John Ruskin

1 7.3

British critic and writer who wrote about art, buildings, and society

proper noun

: John Ruskin

The ideas of John Ruskin greatly influenced the development of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Examples

Many Victorian artists were inspired by John Ruskin's lectures and writings.
During the exhibition, the museum displayed several letters written by John Ruskin to contemporary painters.
The famous artist was inspired by John Ruskin.
Did you read anything by John Ruskin?
Many Victorian artists were inspired by John Ruskin's lectures and writings.
During the exhibition, the museum displayed several letters written by John Ruskin to contemporary painters.
The ideas of John Ruskin greatly influenced the development of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Surface Forms

John Ruskin main

Morphology

John + Ruskin

This is a proper name referring to a specific historical person; knowing the constituent tokens 'John' and 'Ruskin' does not allow a learner to infer that he was a British art critic, writer, and social thinker. The referential, encyclopedic meaning requires world knowledge rather than composition from the parts, so it is not predictable from the constituents.

Etymology

John Ruskin was a British writer and art critic from the 1800s who looked closely at nature and old buildings to find beauty and ideas about how people should live. One easy memory hook is his book 'The Stones of Venice' — think of stones and old buildings to remember he cared about art, buildings, and society.