comoedus

Forms

cōmoedus m (genitive cōmoedī); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek κωμῳδός (kōmōidós, “comic actor, comic poet”).^[2][3][1][4] Cōmoedia comes from the same Greek family.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates the noun from Cicero,^[4] who uses it in his speech for the comic actor Roscius.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It is a comic actor;^[3][2] Lewis & Short contrast it with histriō, a player in general.^[3][2] Quintilian also uses it.^[3] The adjective, that performs in comedy, is found in Juvenal's nātiō cōmoeda, a whole nation of actors.^[2][3][4]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of a comic actor.^[3][4]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian.^[3]
• c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal's nation of actors.^[2][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A comic actor, comedian.^[2][3][1]

Adjective

1. Performing in comedy; given to acting.^[2][3][1]

Related words

• cōmoedia
• histriō

Usage notes

Döderlein groups cōmoedus and tragoedus with actor as the player seen as a respectable artist, against lūdiō and histriō, the player who makes acting his trade.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper