κωμικός

Forms

κωμικός (kōmikós) ^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek κῶμος (kômos, “revel, festive procession”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3] LSJ calls it a later form of κωμῳδικός (kōmōidikós), from κωμῳδία (kōmōidía, “comedy”).^[4]

The origin of the noun is uncertain: a link with Sanskrit शंस (śáṃsa, “praise”) has been proposed, while Beekes suggests that it is a Pre-Greek word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the 4th century BC, in Aeschines and Demosthenes, meaning “of comedy”, as in “comic actor”.^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

In classical Greek it meant “of or for comedy”: Aristotle contrasts a comic with a tragic chorus, and later writers speak of comic masks.^[4][6][3] As a noun, ὁ κωμικός was a comic actor (in Alexis) or a writer of comedies (from Polybius on); Lucian calls Aristophanes simply “the comic poet”.^[4][6] Plutarch uses it also of amusing behaviour.^[6]

It was borrowed as Latin comicus, and through Latin it spread to other European languages: English comic (late 14th century), French comique, German komisch.^[7][8][3] Medieval vernacular Greek kept it for what belongs to comedy.^[9] In Modern Greek κωμικός (komikós) is a learned word; its sense “funny” is a semantic loan from French comique, and the noun means a comedian.^[10]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aeschines and Demosthenes use it of comic actors.^[4][5]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle distinguishes a comic from a tragic chorus.^[4][3]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses the noun for a writer of comedies, and a Delphic inscription names comic poets.^[4][6]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch applies it to amusing behaviour.^[6]
• 2nd century AD – Lucian calls Aristophanes simply “the comic poet”.^[4]
• Late 14th century – English borrows comic through Latin.^[8]
• Modern Greek – κωμικός (komikós) means both “of comedy” and “funny”.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or for comedy, comic: of an actor, chorus, poet or mask.^[4][6]
2. (of behaviour) Comic, amusing.^[6]

Noun

1. A comic actor or a writer of comedies; ὁ κωμικός, “the comic poet”, of Aristophanes.^[4][6]
2. (neuter) A quotation from a comedy.^[6]

Related words

• κῶμος (kômos)
• κωμῳδία (kōmōidía)
• κωμάζω (kōmázō)
• Latin comicus
• English comic

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
10. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki