ecce homo
- noun
- /ˈɛtʃeɪ ˈhoʊmoʊ/
- Literature
:
ecce homo
- The museum's collection features a rare ecce homo painted in the seventeenth century.
Examples
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She wrote her thesis on the symbolism in ecce homo sculptures across Europe.
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The ecce homo is stunning.
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The damaged ecce homo fresco in Spain became famous after an attempted restoration.
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Look at that ecce homo!
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The damaged ecce homo fresco in Spain became famous after an attempted restoration.
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The museum's collection features a rare ecce homo painted in the seventeenth century.
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She wrote her thesis on the symbolism in ecce homo sculptures across Europe.
Synonyms
An image, painting, or statue that shows Jesus
Surface Forms
Morphology
Although the Latin constituents literally yield a phrase meaning 'behold the man', the contemporary informal use referring to a botched or comically poor restoration is a culturally specific, pragmatic extension tied to a famous viral incident and art-historical usage. This modern sense is not predictable from the literal parts and would be unknown to a B1 learner without prior exposure to the cultural reference.
Etymology
Ecce homo comes from the Latin words ecce 'behold' and homo 'man'. Artists used this title for paintings or statues that show Jesus with a crown of thorns as he was shown to the crowd, so today ecce homo names that kind of image.
