Etymologically
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farce

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /fɑɹs/; /fɑːs/ (UK)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English farse (“stuffing”),[2][3] borrowed from Old French farce (“stuffing, interlude”),[2][3][4][5] from Vulgar Latin *farsa,[2][3][6] from Latin farciō (“to stuff, cram”).[2][3][4][5] Etymonline and Barnhart relate the Latin verb to frequēns “crowded”.[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Forcemeat, stuffing (late 14th century).[7][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The theatrical sense comes from the French use of farce for a comic interlude “stuffed” into a religious mystery play.[4][5] Etymonline also cites the earlier practice of inserting phrases (farsia) into Latin liturgical texts.[5] English took over the dramatic sense in the 16th century, for a short play meant only to provoke laughter (1530 in Barnhart, the 1520s in Etymonline).[4][5][7] By 1696 a farce could be any proceeding as absurd as such a play, a hollow mockery.[7] The adjective farcical followed in 1716.[4]

Timeline

  • about 1390 – forcemeat, stuffing.[7]
  • 1520s–1530 – a short comic dramatic piece.[5][4]
  • 1676 – farce as a kind of drama.[7]
  • 1696 – a ludicrously futile or insincere proceeding; a mockery.[7]
  • 1716 – farcical.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A light comic play built on improbable situations, exaggerated characters and often slapstick.
  2. The broad humour typical of such plays.
  3. A ridiculous, empty show; a mockery.
  4. (cooking) Forcemeat; stuffing.

Verb

  1. To stuff, as for roasting.
  2. To pad out a speech or composition, especially with witty material.

Word family

  • farcical
  • forcemeat
  • frequent

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press