cartoon

See also: Cartoon

English

Etymology

In British English first, from French carton (“sketch, cardboard, card”), from Italian cartone (“cardboard, carton, box”), augmentative of carta (“paper”), from Latin carta (“papyrus, paper”), from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs) (see there for further etymology). Doublet of carton and card.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /kɑɹˈtuːn/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɑːˈtuːn/
• Rhymes: -uːn

Noun

A cartoon from the 13 December 1911 issue of the British satirical magazine Punch. It shows the Russian Bear sitting on the tail of the Persian Cat while the British Lion looks on, and represents a phase of The Great Game.

A tapestry weaver with a cartoon showing through the loom.

cartoon (plural cartoons)

1. (comics) A humorous drawing, often with a caption, or a strip of such drawings.
2. (comics) A drawing satirising current public figures.
3. (art) An artist's preliminary sketch.
4. (art) A full-sized drawing that serves as the template for a fresco, a tapestry, etc.
5. (animation) An animated piece of film which is often but not exclusively humorous.
   • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift

     The matter of whether the world needs a fourth Ice Age movie pales beside the question of why there were three before it, but Continental Drift feels less like an extension of a theatrical franchise than an episode of a middling TV cartoon, lolling around on territory that’s already been settled.

6. A diagram in a scientific concept.

Synonyms

• (humorous drawing or strip): comic strip, strip cartoon
• (satire of public figures): caricature, political cartoon
• (animated piece of film): animated cartoon, animation

Derived terms

• animated cartoon
• cartoon character
• cartoonery
• cartooney
• cartoonish
• cartoonist
• cartoonistic
• cartoonlike
• cartoon physics
• cartoony
• editorial cartoon
• pocket cartoon
• political cartoon
• Saturday-morning cartoon
• strip cartoon

 

Related terms

• cartoonist
• comic book
• funnies
• funny pages
• funny papers
• strip cartoon

 

Descendants

• → Swahili: katuni

Translations

humorous drawing or strip

• Afrikaans: spotprent (af)
• Arabic: كَارِيكَاتِير m (karikatīr), كَارِيكَاتُور m (karikatūr), رَسْم هَزْلِيّ m (rasm hazliyy)
• Belarusian: ко́мікс m (kómiks), карыкату́ра f (karykatúra), шарж m (šarž)
• Bulgarian: карикату́ра (bg) f (karikatúra)
• Catalan: vinyeta (ca) f, tira còmica f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 卡通 (zh) (kǎtōng), 諷刺畫／讽刺画 (zh) (fěngcìhuà), 漫畫／漫画 (zh) (mànhuà)

• Danish: tegneserie (da) c
• Esperanto: kartuno
• Finnish: pilakuva (fi) (single-frame), sarjakuva (fi) (strip)
• French: bande dessinée (fr), BD (fr), caricature (fr) f
• Galician: tira cómica f
• German: Karton (de) m, Karikatur (de) f, Cartoon (de) m or n
• Ido: kartuno (io)
• Italian: vignetta (it) f
• Japanese: 風刺画 (ふうしが, fūshiga), 戯画 (ja) (ぎが, giga), 漫画 (ja) (まんが, manga)
• Korean: 만화(漫畫) (ko) (manhwa)
• Luxembourgish: Cartoon
• Macedonian: стрип m (strip), карикату́ра f (karikatúra)
• Maori: pakiwaitara
• Persian: کارتون (fa) (kârtun)
• Polish: komiks (pl) m, historyjka (pl) obrazkowa f
• Portuguese: cartum (pt) m, charge (pt) f (Brazil)
• Russian: ко́микс (ru) m (kómiks), карикату́ра (ru) f (karikatúra), шарж (ru) m (šarž)
• Scottish Gaelic: dealbh-èibhinn m
• Slovak: komiks m
• Sotho: tshwantshiso ya sesomo
• Spanish: viñeta (es) f, tira cómica (es) f
• Swahili: katuni, vibonzo
• Tagalog: tawo-tawo
• Thai: การ์ตูน (th) (gaa-dtuun)
• Ukrainian: ко́мікс m (kómiks), карикату́ра f (karykatúra), шарж m (šarž)

satire of public figures

• Afrikaans: spotprent (af)
• Catalan: caricatura (ca) f
• Czech: karikatura (cs) f
• Danish: karikaturtegning c
• Finnish: pilapiirros (fi), pilakuva (fi)
• French: caricature (fr) f
• Galician: caricatura f
• German: Karikatur (de) f
• Italian: caricatura (it) f
• Luxembourgish: Cartoon
• Macedonian: карикату́ра f (karikatúra)
• Occitan: caricatura (oc) f
• Polish: karykatura (pl) f
• Portuguese: charge (pt) (Brazil), caricatura (pt) f (Portugal)
• Romanian: caricatură (ro) f
• Russian: карикату́ра (ru) f (karikatúra)
• Slovak: karikatúra f
• Sotho: tshwantshiso ya sesomo
• Spanish: caricatura (es) f
• Tagalog: tawo-tawo
• Vietnamese: tranh biếm hoạ

artist's preliminary sketch

• Catalan: cartó (ca) m
• Finnish: luonnos (fi)
• French: croquis (fr)
• Italian: cartone (it) m
• Macedonian: скица f (skica)
• Occitan: croquís, crocadís m
• Polish: szkic (pl) m
• Portuguese: desenho (pt) m, croquis (pt) m
• Romanian: desen (ro) n
• Slovak: náčrt m, skica f
• Spanish: boceto (es) m

animated cartoon

• Afrikaans: tekenprent
• Arabic: كَرْتُون (ar) m (kartūn), فِيلْم كَرْتُون m (film kartūn)

  Hijazi Arabic: كَرْتون m (kartōn), فِلِم كَرْتون m (filim kartōn)

• Azerbaijani: cizgi film
• Bashkir: йәнһүрәт (yənhürət)
• Belarusian: мультыплікацы́йны фільм m (mulʹtyplikacýjny filʹm), мультфі́льм m (mulʹtfílʹm)
• Bulgarian: мултиплика́ция f (multiplikácija)
• Catalan: dibuixos animats (ca) m pl
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 卡通 (kaa¹ tung¹), 卡通片 (kaa¹ tung¹ pin³)

  Mandarin: 動畫／动画 (zh) (dònghuà), 動畫片／动画片 (zh) (dònghuàpiàn), 卡通 (zh) (kǎtōng)

• Danish: tegnefilm (da) c
• Dutch: tekenfilm (nl) m
• Esperanto: animaciaĵo, animaciita desegno
• Finnish: piirrosfilmi (fi), piirretty (fi), piirrossarja, piirroselokuva (fi)
• French: dessin animé (fr)
• Georgian: მულტფილმი (mulṭpilmi), მულტიპლიკაციური ფილმი (mulṭiṗliḳaciuri pilmi), ანიმაცია (animacia), ანიმაციური ფილმი (animaciuri pilmi)
• German: Zeichentrickfilm (de) m, Cartoon (de) m, Zeichentrick (de) m
• Greek: κινούμενα σχέδια (el) n pl (kinoúmena schédia)
• Hebrew: סֶרֶט מְצֻיָּר (he) m (séret m'tzuyyár)
• Hindi: कार्टून f (kārṭūn)
• Hungarian: rajzfilm (hu)
• Italian: cartone animato (it) m
• Japanese: カートゥーン (kātūn), アニメーション (ja) (animēshon), アニメ (ja) (anime)
• Korean: 애니메이션 (ko) (aenimeisyeon), 만화영화(漫畫映畫) (ko) (manhwayeonghwa), 그림영화 (ko) (geurimyeonghwa) (North Korea)
• Luxembourgish: Zeechentrickfilm
• Macedonian: цр́тан филм m (cŕtan film)
• Malay: kartun
• Maori: pakiwaitara, pakiwaituhi
• Norman: annînmâtion f
• Persian: کارتون (fa) (kârtun)
• Polish: kreskówka (pl) f, film rysunkowy m, film animowany m
• Portuguese: desenho animado (pt) m, desenho (pt) m
• Romanian: desen (ro) n, desen animat (ro) n
• Russian: мультипликацио́нный фильм (ru) m (mulʹtiplikaciónnyj filʹm), мультфи́льм (ru) m (mulʹtfílʹm), анимацио́нный фильм m (animaciónnyj filʹm), му́льтик (ru) m (múlʹtik)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: цртани филм m

  Roman: crtani film (sh) m

• Slovak: kreslený film m
• Slovene: risanka f, risani film m
• Spanish: dibujos animados (es) m pl, monos animados m pl, dibujitos (es) m pl, caricaturas (es) f pl
• Swahili: katuni class 9/10
• Swedish: tecknat (sv), tecknad serie (sv) c
• Tagalog: tawo-tawo
• Thai: การ์ตูน (th) (gaa-dtuun), ภาพยนตร์การ์ตูน (pâap-pá-yon-gaa-dtuun)
• Ukrainian: мультфі́льм m (mulʹtfílʹm), мультиплікаці́йний фільм m (mulʹtyplikacíjnyj filʹm), мультипліка́ція f (mulʹtyplikácija), му́льтик m (múlʹtyk) (colloquial)
• Vietnamese: hoạt hình (vi)

diagram in a scientific concept

• Afrikaans: tekening
• Bulgarian: гра́фика (bg) f (gráfika)
• Danish: tegning (da)
• Finnish: kaavio (fi)
• Spanish: diagrama (es)

Verb

cartoon (third-person singular simple present cartoons, present participle cartooning, simple past and past participle cartooned)

1. (art, comics, animation) To draw a cartoon, a humorous drawing.
2. (art) To make a preliminary sketch.

Anagrams

• coranto

French

Noun

cartoon m (plural cartoons)

1. cartoon

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English cartoon.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaʁˈtũ/ [kahˈtũ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaʁˈtũ/ [kahˈtũ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /kaɾˈtũ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kaʁˈtũ/ [kaχˈtũ]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kaɻˈtũ/

Noun

cartoon m (plural cartoons)

1. Alternative form of cartune