Etymologically
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comedic

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 21:01. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /kəˈmiː.dɪk/[1]

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

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