exoticism

English

Etymology

From exotic +‎ -ism.

Noun

exoticism (usually uncountable, plural exoticisms)

1. (uncountable) The state of being exotic.
   • 2004 January 25, Mark Feeney, “A piece of Asia's past, in living color”, in The Boston Globe‎^[1]:

     For all the exoticism of the images, they possess a phenomenal immediacy and even contemporaneity.

2. Something exotic.
   • 1985 February 14, Jane Nickerson, “Chinese New Year”, in The Ledger‎^[2]:

     Chinese restaurants, now dotting this peninsula like azaleas at Cypress Gardens, have introduced thousands of us Occidentals to the delights of moo goo gai pan. As a result, attempts to produce such exoticisms in our own homes have multiplied.

   • 2000 July 20, Bernard Holland, “LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL REVIEW; Messiaen's Nature Worship Calls on Bird Song and Faith”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     The distribution of instruments is fairly traditional, but with piccolo trumpet and bass trombone to explore extremes, and bells, gongs and tam-tams to variegate the sound. Such exoticisms as the xylorimba (Richard Fitz) and glockenspiel (Jeffrey Milarsky) are introduced along with the sounds of shifting sand.

Usage notes

Much more common than synonyms exoticness and exoticity.

Synonyms

• (state of being exotic): exoticness, exoticity, exotism

Translations

the state of being exotic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 異國情調 / 异国情调 (zh) (yìguó qíngdiào)

• Finnish: eksoottisuus (fi), eksotiikka
• French: exotisme (fr) m
• German: Exotik (de) f
• Greek: εξωτισμός (el) m (exotismós)
• Russian: экзоти́чность (ru) f (ekzotíčnostʹ)
• Welsh: dieithrwch m

something exotic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 有異國情調的事物 / 有异国情调的事物 (yǒu yìguó qíngdiào de shìwù)

• Finnish: erikoisuus (fi), eksoottisuus (fi)
• German: Exot (de) m
• Russian: экзо́тика (ru) f (ekzótika)

Anagrams

• semitoxic