trompe l'oeil

== English == === Alternative forms === trompe l’œil, trompe-l’oeil, trompe-l’œil === Etymology === Borrowed from French trompe-l’œil (literally “deceives the eye”), from trompe (“deceives”, third-person singular present indicative of tromper) + l’ (“the”, prevocalic form of le) + œil (“eye”). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) (emulating French) enPR: trôɴp löy, IPA(key): /ˈtɹɔ̃p ˈlœj/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈtɹɔmp ˈlɔɪ/, /-ˈleɪ/ === Noun === trompe l'oeil (usually uncountable, plural trompe l'oeil or trompe l'oeils) (see usage notes) (uncountable) A genre of painting that exploits human vision to create the illusion that the subject of the painting is real. (countable) A painting of this kind. ==== Usage notes ==== This phrase is sometimes misconstructed as trompe d’œil and trompe-d’œil, which, literally interpreted in French, means “deceives of eye”. In French, trompe-l’œil is an invariant noun; the same usage is reflected in the plural use of the English trompe l’oeil. Alternatively, trompe l’oeil is treated as a headless noun phrase, to which is suffixed -s to form a regular plural form. Still otherwise, some authors form novel plurals on modified etymological bases, such as the technically correct trompent-l’œil (“[they] deceive the eye”) and the ultimately mistaken trompe les yeux (“deceives the eyes”); however, such neologistic constructions are vanishingly rare. ==== Synonyms ==== quodlibet ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== Trompe-l'œil on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === References === “‖trompe l’œil” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd Ed.; 1989] == French == === Noun === trompe l'oeil m (invariable) nonstandard spelling of trompe-l'œil ==== Usage notes ==== The œ ligature is often replaced in contemporary French with oe (the œ character does not appear on AZERTY keyboards), but this is nonstandard. == Italian == === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from French trompe-l'œil (literally “deceive the eye”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtrɔmp ˈl‿øj/ === Noun === trompe l'oeil m (invariable) trompe l'oeil