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mélodrame

Etymology and origin of the French word mélodrame

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1762, Arnaud
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French mélodrame
English melodrama

Forms

mélodrame m (plural mélodrames)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of mélo- (from Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos, “song, music”)) and drame,[2][3][4][5] made after Italian melodramma (17th century), a wholly sung drama.[3][6] Littré gives Greek “melos” “music” and “drame”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

François Arnaud's Essai sur le mélodrame ou drame lyrique (1762; printed 1768) has it for a spoken drama with musical accompaniment in some scenes, at the time of the Querelle des Bouffons.[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Rousseau's Pygmalion is a mélodrame in this sense, the dialogue being prepared by instrumental music.[4][8] From 1788 it named a popular drama piling up violent episodes and unforeseen twists, with pathetic effects underlined by music, a genre in vogue in the 19th century with Guilbert de Pixérécourt, “the father of melodrama”, in the theatres of the boulevard du Crime.[2][3] It passed into common use for excessively sentimental speech or behaviour (héros de mélodrame, 1840), and is used of films and television, often pejoratively.[3][4] Mélo dates from 1872, mélodramatique from 1814 and mélodramatiser from 1876.[8][3][2]

Timeline

  • 1762 – In Arnaud's Essai sur le mélodrame.[6]
  • 1771 – In L'Année littéraire.[4]
  • 1788 – A popular drama.[2]
  • 1814 – Mélodramatique.[3]
  • 1840 – Héros de mélodrame.[3]
  • 1872 – Mélo.[8]
  • 1876 – Mélodramatiser.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A melodrama (play, film): le traître du mélodrame.[8][1]
  2. (figurative) Melodrama, exaggerated sentimentality: faire du mélodrame.[8][3]
  3. (history) A drama with musical accompaniment.[8][9]

Word family

  • mélo
  • mélodramatique
  • drame
  • mélodie
  • Ancient Greek μέλος (mélos)

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 687a
  6. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Cite this entry

“Mélodrame.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/m%C3%A9lodrame. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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