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comic

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈkɒm.ɪk/, US /ˈkɑː.mɪk/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin cōmicus (“of comedy”),[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek κωμικός (kōmikós, “of or pertaining to comedy”),[2][3] from κῶμος (kômos, “revel, merrymaking”).[3][5][4] It is related to comedy.[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of or belonging to comedy, as distinct from tragedy: 1387, in Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun meant a writer of comedies from 1581 and a comic actor from 1619.[6][3] The modern sense “funny, laughable” is first recorded in 1751 in Johnson's Rambler, though comical had been used so since the late 17th century;[3] the OED has “intentionally funny” from 1791.[6][2] Something comic aims at comedy, while something comical has a comic effect, intended or not.[2] Comic relief is from 1817.[2] Comics, humorous drawings in papers, is from 1890 in Etymonline and 1910 in Barnhart,[2][3] the comic strip from 1914 or 1920,[2][3] and the comic book from 1941.[2] An entertainer who tells jokes is by 1952.[2]

Timeline

  • 1387 – of comedy.[6][3]
  • 1581 – a writer of comedies.[6]
  • 1619 – a comic actor.[6]
  • 1751 – funny.[3]
  • 1817 – comic relief.[2]
  • 1890 – comics.[2]
  • 1952 – a comedian.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Funny, causing laughter.
  2. Relating to comedy.
  3. Relating to comic strips.

Noun

  1. A comedian.
  2. A magazine or book of comic strips.
  3. (comics) Comic strips in a newspaper.

Word family

  • comic book
  • comic strip
  • comedian
  • comedy
  • comical
  • comic relief
  • comic opera
  • heroicomic
  • noncomic
  • semicomic
  • tragicomic
  • uncomic

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 i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b 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 Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press