Page "Baroque" Paragraph 4

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word baroque is derived from the Portuguese word " barroco ", Spanish " barroco ", or French " baroque ", all of which refer to a " rough or imperfect pearl ", though whether it entered those languages via Latin, Arabic, or some other source is uncertain.

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition, thought the term was derived from the Spanish barrueco, a large, irregularly-shaped pearl, and it was for a time confined to the craft of the jeweller.

Others derive it from the mnemonic term " Baroco ", a supposedly laboured form of syllogism in logical Scholastica .< ref >