Neoclassicism

Etymology

From "neo-" (Greek "neos," new) plus "classicism," itself from Latin "classicus" (of the highest class). The term describes the wave of Greco-Roman revival that swept eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Europe, partly spurred by fresh archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum.

noun · /nee-oh-KLAS-i-siz-uhm/
A movement in art, architecture, and literature that revived the forms, restraint, and ideals of classical Greece and Rome.
What it names
A deliberate looking-backward — a self-conscious revival — rather than an unbroken continuation of ancient style.
Example
The new courthouse was pure neoclassicism, all columns and pediments borrowed from a Roman temple.
Related idea
Distinct from classicism itself, which refers to the original ancient standards or their timeless authority; neoclassicism is specifically their revival in a later era, a self-aware return rather than the source.