statuary

noun, adj — 4 senses

statuary

noun

UK /ˈstæ.t͡ʃʊə.ɹi/ · US /ˈstæ.t͡ʃu.ɛəɹi/

Etymology From Latin statuāria (ars) (“(art) of sculpture”), feminine of the adjective statuārius (“of statues”).

1

The craft of making statues.

2

Statues considered collectively.

  • Simply on aesthetic grounds I can almost applaud the Victorians’ fig obsessed Bowdlerisation of Greek and Roman statuary.2012, Ruth Ramsden, chapter 9, in Blue Murder at the Pink Parrot, London: Cutting Edge Press, →ISBN, page 137:

statuary

adj

Etymology From the noun or the Latin adjective statuārius (“of statues”).

1

Of, relating to, or characteristic of statues.

  • He [Francis Bacon] lyeth interred in the Church of St. Michael at St. Albans in Hartfordſhire, and hath there a fair ſtatuary monument erected for him of white Marble at the coſt of Sir Thomas Meautis, his ancient ſervant, who was not neerer to him living then dead: […]1655, [Hamon L’Estrange], The Reign of King Charles: An History Faithfully and Impartially Delivered and Disposed into Annals, London: […] E. C. for Edward Dod, and Henry Seile the younger, […], page 64:
  • There is the lady’s own book, complete without a teacher—showing how the waist should be boddiced; the parasol handled; the statuary attitudes; the Parisian curtsy; the prettiest toss of the head, and swing of the train.1862, James B[owen] Everhart, “Women”, in Miscellanies, West Chester, Pa.: Edward F. James, page 32:
1 more example
  • Characteristically, the photo series ends with the trainer having successfully contorted the boy’s body into a classical, statuary pose, even as the boy forces a pained smile for the camera.2004, Keith A. Livers, “Lev Kassil’: The Soccer Match as Stalinist Ritual”, in Constructing the Stalinist Body: Fictional Representations of Corporeality in the Stalinist 1930s, Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., →ISBN, page 168:
Derived terms
statuarism

statuary

noun

Etymology From Latin statuārius (“maker of statues”).

1

A person who makes or deals in statues.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.