English
Alternative forms
- comedie (“archaic, often affected as such for humorous effect”)
- comœdie (“obsolete”)
- comœdy (“archaic”)
Etymology
Etymology tree
Inherited from Middle English comedie, borrowed from Middle French comedie, from Latin cōmoedia, borrowed from Ancient Greek κωμῳδῐ́ᾱ (kōmōidĭ́ā), from κῶμος (kômos, “revel, carousing”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), or from κῶμος (kômos, “revel, carousing”) + ἀοιδός (aoidós, “singer, bard”). Doublet of commedia.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɒmədi/
- (Standard Southern British) IPA(key): /ˈkɔmədɪj/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɑmədi/
Audio (General American): (file)
- (Scotland) IPA(key): /ˈkɔməde/, /-dɪ/, /-di/
- (South Asia) IPA(key): /ˈkɔm(ə)ɖi/
- Homophone: comity (t-flapping)
- Hyphenation: com‧e‧dy
Noun
comedy (countable and uncountable, plural comedies)
- (countable, historical) a choric song of celebration or revel, especially in Ancient Greece
- (countable) a light, amusing play with a happy ending
- A Midsummer Night's Dream is among Shakespeare's most famous comedies.
- (countable, Medieval Europe) a narrative poem with an agreeable ending (e.g., The Divine Comedy)
- (countable, drama) a dramatic work that is light and humorous or satirical in tone
- (drama) the genre of such works
- (uncountable) entertainment composed of jokes, satire, or humorous performance
- Why would you be watching comedy when there are kids starving right now?
- the art of composing comedy
- (countable) a humorous event
Antonyms
- (antonym(s) of “light, humorous, or satirical work”): drama (in its narrower sense)
- (antonym(s) of “light, humorous, or satirical work”): tragedy
Hypernyms
- (light, humorous, or satirical work): drama (in its broader sense)
Hyponyms
- (light, humorous, or satirical work): farce
Derived terms
Expressions with this term at the beginning
Expressions with this term at the end
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
a choric song of celebration or revel
a light, amusing play with a happy ending
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(medieval Europe) a narrative poem with an agreeable ending
dramatic work that is light and humorous or satirical in tone
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the genre of such works
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See also
Further reading
comedy on Wikipedia.Wikipedia - William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “comedy”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
- “comedy”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.