comedy

English

Alternative forms

comedie (“archaic, often affected as such for humorous effect”)
comœdie (“obsolete”)
comœdy (“archaic”)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Ancient Greek κῶμος (kômos)

Proto-Hellenic *awéidō

Proto-Hellenic *-ā́

Proto-Hellenic *awoidā́

Ancient Greek ᾰ̓οιδή (ăoidḗ)

Ancient Greek ᾠδή (ōidḗ)

Ancient Greek κῶμος (kômos)

Proto-Hellenic *awoidós

Ancient Greek ἀοιδός (aoidós)

Ancient Greek κωμῳδῐ́ᾱ (kōmōidĭ́ā)bor.

Latin cōmoediader.

Middle French comediebor.

Middle English comedie

English comedy

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

comic

Descendants

→ Japanese: コメディ (komedi)
→ Korean: 코미디 (komidi)
→ Tamil: காமெடி (kāmeṭi)

Translations

a choric song of celebration or revel

Catalan: comèdia (ca) f
French: comédie (fr) f
Galician: comedia (gl) f
Latvian: komēdija f
Polish: komedia (pl)
Portuguese: comédia (pt) f
Romanian: comedie (ro) f
Russian: коме́дия (ru) f (komédija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ко̀ме̄дија f

Latin: kòmēdija (sh) f

a light, amusing play with a happy ending

Bulgarian: комедия (bg) f (komedija)
Dutch: blijspel (nl) n
Galician: comedia (gl) f
Greek:
Ancient Greek: κωμῳδία f (kōmōidía)
Hebrew: קומדיה (he) f (qomedia)
Irish: coiméide f
Latin: comoedia f
Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) (tamāśa)
Polish: komedia (pl) m
Portuguese: comédia (pt) f
Russian: коме́дия (ru) f (komédija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ко̀ме̄дија f

Latin: kòmēdija (sh) f
Tamil: காமெடி (kāmeṭi)
Ukrainian: коме́дія (uk) f (komédija)
Welsh: comedi m

(medieval Europe) a narrative poem with an agreeable ending

Galician: comedia (gl) f
Hindi: सुखांत (hi) (sukhānt)
Polish: komedia (pl) f
Portuguese: comédia (pt) f
Russian: коме́дия (ru) f (komédija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ко̀ме̄дија f

Latin: kòmēdija (sh) f
Welsh: comedi m

dramatic work that is light and humorous or satirical in tone

Arabic: فُكَاهَة f (fukāha), كُومِيدِيَا f (kōmīdiyā), كُومِيدِيَا f (kōmēdiyā)
Armenian: կատակերգություն (hy) (katakergutʻyun)
Azerbaijani: komediya, gülməli əsər, məzhəkə
Belarusian: каме́дыя f (kamjédyja)
Bulgarian: коме́дия (bg) f (komédija)
Catalan: comèdia (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 喜劇 / 喜剧 (zh) (xǐjù)
Crimean Tatar: komediya, mudhike
Czech: komedie (cs) f, veselohra (cs) f
Danish: komedie (da) c
Dutch: komedie (nl) f, blijspel (nl) n
Esperanto: komedio
Estonian: komöödia
Finnish: komedia (fi)
French: comédie (fr) f
Gagauz: komediya, güldürü
Galician: comedia (gl) f
Georgian: კომედია (ḳomedia)
German: Komödie (de) f
Greek: κωμωδία (el) f (komodía)
Ancient Greek: κωμῳδία f (kōmōidía)
Hebrew: קומדיה (he) f (qomedia)
Hungarian: vígjáték (hu), komédia (hu)
Icelandic: gamanleikrit n
Ido: komedio (io)
Indonesian: lawak (id), humor (id)
Irish: coiméide f
Italian: commedia (it) f
Japanese: 喜劇 (ja) (きげき, kigeki), コメディ (ja) (komedi)
Kashubian: kòmédiô f
Kazakh: комедия (komediä)
Korean: 희극(喜劇) (ko) (huigeuk), 코미디 (ko) (komidi), 코믹 (komik)
Kyrgyz: комедия (komediya)
Latin: cōmoedia f
Latvian: komēdija f
Lithuanian: komedija f, juokažaislė f
Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) (tamāśa)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: komedie (no) m

Nynorsk: komedie m
Occitan: comedia (oc) f
Ossetian: комеди (komedi)
Persian: کمدی (fa) (komedi)
Polish: komedia (pl) f
Portuguese: comédia (pt) f
Romanian: comedie (ro) f
Russian: коме́дия (ru) f (komédija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ко̀ме̄дија f

Latin: kòmēdija (sh) f
Spanish: comedia (es) f
Sundanese: bodor
Swedish: komedi (sv)
Tagalog: katawanan
Tajik: мазҳака (tg) (mazhaka)
Tamil: காமெடி (kāmeṭi)
Tatar: комедия (qömediyä)
Turkish: komedi (tr)
Ottoman Turkish: تقلید اویونی (täqlid oyunu), تقلید اوینی (täqlid oyunu), مضحكه (muđhike)
Ukrainian: коме́дія (uk) f (komédija)
Vietnamese: hài kịch (vi)
Volapük: fredadramat (vo)
Welsh: comedi m
Yiddish: קאָמעדיע f (komedye)

the genre of such works

Arabic: كُومِيدِيَا f (kōmīdiyā), كُومِيدِيَا f (kōmēdiyā)
Armenian: կատակերգություն (hy) (katakergutʻyun)
Bulgarian: коме́дия (bg) f (komédija)
Catalan: comèdia (ca) f
Finnish: komiikka (fi)
Galician: comedia (gl) f
Hebrew: קומדיה (he) f (qomedia)
Icelandic: kómedía f, gamanleikur (is) m
Indonesian: komedi (id)
Irish: coiméide f
Malayalam: തമാശ (ml) (tamāśa)
Persian: کمدی (fa) (komedi)
Portuguese: comédia (pt) f
Russian: коме́дия (ru) f (komédija)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: ко̀ме̄дија f

Latin: kòmēdija (sh) f
Spanish: comedia (es) f
Sundanese: bodor
Tamil: காமெடி (kāmeṭi)
Welsh: comedi m