--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The word Gothic, in the sense in which it…" description: "\"The word Gothic, in the sense in which it is generally employed, is wholly unsuitable, but wholly consecrated. Hence we accept it and we adopt it, like..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/victor-hugo-32_accepting_the-word-gothic-in-the-sense-in-which-it_3037166.jpg" --- # The word Gothic, in the sense in which it is generally… ![“The word Gothic, in the sense in which it is generally employed, is wholly unsuitable, but wholly consecrated. Hence we accept it and we adopt it, like all the rest of the world, to characterize the architecture of the second half of the Middle Ages, where the ogive is the principle which succeeds…” quote by Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/victor-hugo-32_accepting_the-word-gothic-in-the-sense-in-which-it_3037166.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/victor-hugo-32_accepting_the-word-gothic-in-the-sense-in-which-it_3037166.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81c/victor-hugo-32_accepting_the-word-gothic-in-the-sense-in-which-it_3037166.jpg) > “The word Gothic, in the sense in which it is generally employed, is wholly unsuitable, but wholly consecrated. Hence we accept it and we adopt it, like all the rest of the world, to characterize the architecture of the second half of the Middle Ages, where the ogive is the principle which succeeds the architecture of the first period, of which the semi-circle is the father.” [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The term “Gothic” is technically inaccurate for later medieval architecture, yet it persists because it conveys a shared cultural understanding. **In simple terms:** “Gothic” is a misnomer but widely used. Key Takeaway Accept useful labels while recognizing their limits. Themes architecture history language classification Mood analytical thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - academic writing - tour guides - museum curation - design discussions - educational curricula Key Concepts cultural semantics historical periods Questions to Reflect On - Why do we cling to inaccurate labels? - How can we improve architectural terminology? A Different Perspective Relying on imprecise terms can obscure nuanced differences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Accepting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) [Architecture Period](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture-period-4784546/) [Circles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/circles/) [Employed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/employed/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Firsts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/firsts/) [Gothic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic/) [Gothic Sense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gothic-sense-4988349/) [Half](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/half/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [Middle ages](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-ages/) [Periods](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/periods/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Succeed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/succeed/) [Word Gothic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-gothic-4183635/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I hate the word gothic but I would like to try doing something like that. A gothic sound, not rock, but gothic. There's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-osbourne/i-hate-the-word-gothic-but-i-would-like-to-try-doing-something-like/) [Kelly Osbourne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-osbourne/) > [The Art Deco movement, architecture from that period and sort of the industrial aesthetic from that period. Art Deco meets tribal kind of thing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-love/the-art-deco-movement-architecture-from-that-period-and-sort-of-the/) [Pamela Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-love/) > [These Greek capitals, black with age, and quite deeply graven in the stone, with I know not what signs peculiar to Gothic calligraphy imprinted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/these-greek-capitals-black-with-age-and-quite-deeply-graven-in-the/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Admirable, however, as the Paris of the present day appears to you, build up and put together again in imagination the Paris of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/admirable-however-as-the-paris-of-the-present-day-appears-to-you/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“And so the afternoon stretched on, and Ezbon toasted their imminent defeat to the dregs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-n-faust/and-so-the-afternoon-stretched-on-and-ezbon-toasted-their-imminent/) [C.N. Faust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-n-faust/) > [Most buildings, whether they're Gothic cathedrals or Romanesque ones, were high tech for their time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rogers/most-buildings-whether-they-re-gothic-cathedrals-or-romanesque-ones/) [Richard Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rogers/) > [“Those mornings were fragile things — like flowers blooming in the middle of a battlefield. She hadn’t realized then that the soil beneath them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-sn/those-mornings-were-fragile-things-like-flowers-blooming-in-the/) [Maggie Sn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-sn/) > [“Cavernous windows opened in a silent scream on the face of the Gothic house that tilted on the crest of Foster Hill. Its gables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaime-jo-wright/cavernous-windows-opened-in-a-silent-scream-on-the-face-of-the-gothic/) [Jaime Jo Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaime-jo-wright/) > [As the architecture of a country always follows the earliest structures, American architecture should be a refinement of the log-house. The Egyptian is so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/as-the-architecture-of-a-country-always-follows-the-earliest/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“And when she had spoken such a rhapsody, she would press me more closely in her trembling embrace, and her lips in soft kisses…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheridan-le-fanu/and-when-she-had-spoken-such-a-rhapsody-she-would-press-me-more/) [Sheridan Le Fanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheridan-le-fanu/) > [There are few of us who have not sometimes wakened before dawn, either after one of those dreamless nights that make one almost enamoured…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/there-are-few-of-us-who-have-not-sometimes-wakened-before-dawn-either/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“In starlit nights I saw you, So cruelly you kissed me. Your lips a magic world, Your sky all hung with jewels. The killing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/echo-and-the-bunnymen/in-starlit-nights-i-saw-you-so-cruelly-you-kissed-me-your-lips-a/) [Echo and the Bunnymen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/echo-and-the-bunnymen/) > [“The marine underworld stretched below the ship and embodied many secrets. The disappearance of Olga had become one of the mysteries that would remain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-apan/the-marine-underworld-stretched-below-the-ship-and-embodied-many/) [Tiffany Apan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-apan/) > [Man preys on man; and you mourn for the idle tapestry that decorated a gothic pillar, and the dronish bell that summoned the fat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/man-preys-on-man-and-you-mourn-for-the-idle-tapestry-that-decorated-a/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [Gothic in its purest sense is actually a very powerful, twisted genre, but the way it was being used by by journalists - 'goff'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siouxsie-sioux/gothic-in-its-purest-sense-is-actually-a-very-powerful-twisted-genre/) [Siouxsie Sioux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siouxsie-sioux/) ## More by Victor Hugo > [Houses are like the human beings that inhabit them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/houses-are-like-the-human-beings-that-inhabit-them/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“There is still a certain grace in a dead festival. It has been happy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/there-is-still-a-certain-grace-in-a-dead-festival-it-has-been-happy/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“First I loved women, then animals, and now I love stones. They're just as amusing as women and animals and they're much less trecherous.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/first-i-loved-women-then-animals-and-now-i-love-stones-they-re-just/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Nature is pitiless; she never withdraws her flowers, her music, her fragrance, and her sunlight from before human cruelty or suffering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/nature-is-pitiless-she-never-withdraws-her-flowers-her-music-her/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/have-courage-for-the-great-sorrows-of-life-and-patience-for-the-small/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [The peasants of the Asturias believe that in every litter of wolves there is one pup that is killed by the mother for fear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/the-peasants-of-the-asturias-believe-that-in-every-litter-of-wolves/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Great blunders are often made, like large ropes, of a multitude of fibres.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/great-blunders-are-often-made-like-large-ropes-of-a-multitude-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“For love is like a tree; it grows of itself; it send its roots deep into our being, and often continues to grow green…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/for-love-is-like-a-tree-it-grows-of-itself-it-send-its-roots-deep/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Blacheville smiles with the self-satisfied smugness of a man whose vanity is tickled”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/blacheville-smiles-with-the-self-satisfied-smugness-of-a-man-whose/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Loving in ignorance, she loved with all the more passion. She did not know whether it was good or evil, beneficent or dangerous, necessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/loving-in-ignorance-she-loved-with-all-the-more-passion-she-did-not/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/laughter-is-the-sun-that-drives-winter-from-the-human-face/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“Our joys have shadows. The perfect smile belongs to God alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/our-joys-have-shadows-the-perfect-smile-belongs-to-god-alone/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“When those we love are in question, our prudence invents every sort of madness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/when-those-we-love-are-in-question-our-prudence-invents-every-sort-of/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Love is a fault; so be it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/love-is-a-fault-so-be-it/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) [Explore all 2,181 Victor Hugo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) ## More Accepting quotes > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) > [Laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing! It is the jester! A voice from the Void, to cheer poor Cicero! I accept your gift, dearest Night Mother.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/laughing-laughing-laughing-laughing-it-is-the-jester-a-voice-from-the/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [This duo inside of me causes the perfect opportunity to live and learn twice as fast as those who choose to accept simplicity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/this-duo-inside-of-me-causes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-live-and/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [Don't be bitter. Everybody suffers. If you can accept your suffering then you will understand other people better. Be grateful for pain. Love life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/don-t-be-bitter-everybody-suffers-if-you-can-accept-your-suffering/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [It takes an unusually philosophic mind to accept that all one’s suffering might be to no end, really, in the larger scheme of things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-takes-an-unusually-philosophic-mind-to-accept-that-all-one-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Even with clothing naked animals, there were people who wanted to send in money. A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true, your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good fortune, divine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-murphy/whatever-your-conscious-mind-assumes-and-believes-to-be-true-your/) [Joseph Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-murphy/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [… and so he tried to accept the ache in his heart as what Dr. Larch would call the common symptoms of normal life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-irving/and-so-he-tried-to-accept-the-ache-in-his-heart-as-what-dr-larch/) [John Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-irving/) > [I think what was special about 'Music by Prudence' was the classic story of the title subject's life path - from being an outcast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-think-what-was-special-about-music-by-prudence-was-the-classic/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [As my films are born at the moment when they are reflected into another person's mind and memories, there are no misconceptions. I totally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pirjo-honkasalo/as-my-films-are-born-at-the-moment-when-they-are-reflected-into/) [Pirjo Honkasalo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pirjo-honkasalo/) [Browse all 6,788 Accepting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/accepting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The word Gothic, in the sense in which it is generally employed, is wholly unsuitable, but wholly consecrated. 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