/ˈpʊtəʊ/, /ˈpʊtoʊ/, [-ɾoʊ]
OriginBorrowed from Italian putto (“cupid, putto; boy”), from Latin putus (“boy”), a variant of pūsus (“(little) boy”), from puer (“boy, lad; child”), from Proto-Italic *puweros, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few, little; smallness”).
The plural form putti is also borrowed from Italian putti.
- A representation, especially in Renaissance or Baroque art, of a small, naked, often winged (usually male) child; a cherub.
“There is in the porch of the present church a tablet to Luke Flood (died 1818) which has much the appearance of having been made up of portions of earlier monuments. It is surmounted by a bas-relief o”
“The Carmelite scapulars held by the putto and young male saint on the right indicate that the altarpiece was intended for a church of the Carmelite order.”
“A second putto with a gallows in its hand cries at the judge's feet.”
Formsputti(plural) · puttos(plural, rare) · puttoes(plural, rare)