comedic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōmoedicus (“of comedy, comic”),^[2][3][4][5] a word of Apuleius in the 2nd century,^[2] from Ancient Greek κωμῳδικός (kōmōidikós, “of comedy”),^[2][3] from κωμῳδία (kōmōidía, “comedy”) and the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[2][3][5] Etymonline allows that it may also have been formed from English comedy + -ic in English.^[6] The Greek noun is from κωμῳδός (kōmōidós, “singer in the comic chorus”),^[2] which Etymonline, after Beekes, takes as probably from κῶμος (kômos, “revel, merrymaking”) and ἀοιδός (aoidós, “singer, poet”), related to ode.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or relating to comedy: 1639, in a letter of Robert Baillie.^[2][3] The longer form comedical is earlier, from the 1610s.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, of or characteristic of comedy, and the OED treats it as a synonym of comic in its various senses.^[2][4] Merriam-Webster gives it two uses: relating to comedy as a form (a comedic actor), and resembling comedy.^[3] Dictionary.com sets it beside comic and comical in a note on confusable words.^[5]

Timeline

• 1610s – the earlier form comedical.^[6]
• 1639 – comedic, of or relating to comedy.^[2][3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of, relating to or typical of comedy: her comedic timing.^[3][7][2]
2. Like comedy; comic or amusing: The rehearsal had a comedic quality nobody intended.^[3][2]

Word family

• comedically

Related words

• comedy
• comic
• comical
• comedian
• ode

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins