Etymologically
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comedy

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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

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