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This is an etymology (via Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day service):
Antic
When Renaissance Italians began exploring the ancient Roman ruins around them, they discovered fantastic mural paintings that they called "pitture grottesche" (which means "cave paintings," from the fact that they were found in caves, or "grotte"). Because they were so old, the murals were also called "antichi," or "ancient things." English speakers began to use "antics," both for depictions that are incongruous, caricatured, and ludicrous (such as gargoyles, which we now might refer to as "grotesques") and for ludicrous or outlandish behavior. Within 20 years of its earliest recorded uses as a noun, "antic" appeared as an English adjective. Originally, it meant "grotesque" or "bizarre" (a sense now considered archaic), but today it means "playful, funny, or absurd" and the noun means "a wildly playful or funny act."
Antic
When Renaissance Italians began exploring the ancient Roman ruins around them, they discovered fantastic mural paintings that they called "pitture grottesche" (which means "cave paintings," from the fact that they were found in caves, or "grotte"). Because they were so old, the murals were also called "antichi," or "ancient things." English speakers began to use "antics," both for depictions that are incongruous, caricatured, and ludicrous (such as gargoyles, which we now might refer to as "grotesques") and for ludicrous or outlandish behavior. Within 20 years of its earliest recorded uses as a noun, "antic" appeared as an English adjective. Originally, it meant "grotesque" or "bizarre" (a sense now considered archaic), but today it means "playful, funny, or absurd" and the noun means "a wildly playful or funny act."
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