Collage
/kəˈlɑːʒ/noun
An artistic composition made by assembling different materials, images, or fragments into one work.
Did you know?The word entered English in the 20th century from French, but the technique’s name is rooted in *coller*, “to glue,” from Latin *collāre*, ultimately tied to the ancient idea of binding things together.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*kel-
“to press, strike, drive”
Latin
Latin
collāre
“to glue together, to stick”
Old French
Old French
coller
“to glue, paste, fasten”
19th Century
French
collage
“a gluing or pasting; later, an artistic technique using pasted materials”
20th Century
English
collage
“an artwork made by assembling and attaching fragments of different materials”