comedy

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈkɒm.ə.di/, US /ˈkɑː.mə.di/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English comedie, borrowed from Old French comedie (“a poem”), and directly from Latin cōmoedia,^[2][3] from Ancient Greek κωμῳδία (kōmōidía, “a comedy, amusing spectacle”),^[2][3] from kōmōidós “actor or singer in the revels”, from kômos “revel, merrymaking, festive procession” and aoidós “singer”, from aeídein “to sing”,^[2][3][4] which is related to ōidḗ, the source of ode.^[2][3] The origin of kômos is uncertain: perhaps from PIE *komso- “praise”, while Beekes suggests it is Pre-Greek; the old derivation from kṓmē “village” is no longer accepted.^[2] It is related to comic and tragedy.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A narrative poem with a happy ending: 1374 in the OED, about 1385 in Barnhart, in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde.^[6][3] This medieval sense is the one in Dante's Commedia.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The classical sense, an amusing play with a happy ending, was close to the modern one, but in the Middle Ages the word was applied chiefly to poems and stories, with a happy ending as the essential element.^[3][2] Mystery plays or interludes with a happy ending were called comedies in 1530,^[6] and the revival of learning in the 16th century recovered the ancient comedies and moved the word back to the theatre.^[2][3] The branch of drama that uses a humorous style is from 1387 in the OED.^[6] Incidents in real life seen as comic are from 1570,^[6] the comedy of manners from 1822,^[6] and humour or the quality of being amusing from 1877.^[6] Comedian was first a writer of comedies (1581, in Sidney) and a comic actor from 1601, in Twelfth Night.^[3]

Timeline

• 1374 – a narrative poem with a happy ending.^[6]
• 1530 – a play with a happy ending.^[6]
• 1570 – comic incidents in real life.^[6]
• 1581 – comedian, writer of comedies.^[3]
• 1601 – comedian, comic actor.^[3]
• 1822 – comedy of manners.^[6]
• 1877 – humour.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Entertainment such as films, plays or television that is intended to make people laugh.
2. A play, film or other work that is humorous and usually has a happy ending.
3. The amusing side of something; humour.
4. The work of a comedian, such as stand-up comedy.

Word family

• comedian
• comedic
• dramedy
• comedist
• comedy drama
• high comedy
• musical comedy
• comedy of manners

Related words

• comic
• ode
• tragedy
• melody

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press