satire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsætaɪə/ (UK); /ˈsætaɪɹ/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French satire and directly from Latin satira (“satire, poetic medley”),^[2][3][4][5] an altered form of earlier satura,^[6][3][4][5] probably from lanx satura “a dish of mixed ingredients”, literally “a full dish”,^[6][2][3][4] from the feminine of satur “well-fed, sated”.^{[6][2][3][4][5]} The spelling with -i- or -y- arose in Latin from the mistaken belief that the genre was connected with the Greek satyr drama.^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A poem, later also a prose work, in which prevailing vices or follies are held up to ridicule (1509 in the OED and Barnhart, 1501 in Merriam-Webster).^[7][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Latin the word acquired its literary sense from the poet Ennius's collection of poems in mixed metres on varied subjects, and in classical Latin it was used especially of a poem attacking one vice after another.^[3] In English it came to name the whole kind of literature (1589)^[7] and, by the late 17th century, the use of sarcasm, irony and ridicule in any speech or writing.^[7] The sense “a thing or circumstance that makes someone look ridiculous” is recorded from 1693.^[7][3] A verb satire “to satirize” appeared in 1905, but the older verb is satirize.^[3][7]

Timeline

• 1501 – Merriam-Webster's date.^[4]
• 1509 – a poem ridiculing vices and follies.^[7][2]
• 1589 – satirical writing as a kind of literature.^[7]
• 1601 – the verb satirize.^[2]
• c. 1675 – the use of ridicule and sarcasm in exposing vice or folly.^[7]
• 1693 – something that makes a person or thing look ridiculous.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A literary work in which human vices and follies are attacked through irony, derision or wit.
2. The branch of literature made up of such works.
3. Irony, sarcasm or caustic wit used to expose and discredit folly or vice.

Word family

• satirize
• satiric
• satirical
• satirist

Related words

• satiate
• saturate
• satisfy
• lampoon
• parody

Usage notes

Random House distinguishes satire, the general term, which often aims at the weakness rather than the person and usually implies a moral, corrective purpose, from lampoon, a satire, often political or personal, marked by the malice of its attack.^[5] Wiktionary notes that satire is often confused with parody, which need not aim at any social change.^[1]

References

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