tragedy

English

Alternative forms

• tragœdy, tragoedy, tragœdie, tragoedie, tragedie (archaic)

Etymology

From the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle English tragedie, from the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Old French tragedie, from the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin tragoedia, from the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek τραγῳδία (tragōidía, “epic play, tragedy”), from τράγος (trágos, “male goat”) + ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), a reference to the goat-satyrs of the theatrical plays of the Dorians.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæd͡ʒɪdi/
• Hyphenation: trag‧e‧dy

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

tragedy (countable and uncountable, plural tragedies)

1. A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.

   Antonym: comedy

2. The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.

   Antonym: comedy

3. A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.
   • 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace‎^[1]:

     “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”

   • 2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 142:

     After the terrible tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in 1911, which killed 146 New York garment workers, proper fire drilling was considered a necessity.

Derived terms

• tragedy of the commons

Related terms

• tragedian
• tragic
• tragicomedy

 

Translations

drama or similar work

• Arabic: مَأْسَاة f (maʔsāh), تْرَاجِيدْيَا f (trājīdyā)
• Armenian: ողբերգություն (hy) (oġbergutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: faciə (az)
• Catalan: tragèdia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悲劇／悲剧 (zh) (bēijù), 悲剧 (zh) (bēijù)

• Czech: tragédie (cs) f
• Danish: tragedie c
• Esperanto: tragedio (eo)
• Finnish: tragedia (fi), murhenäytelmä (fi)
• French: tragédie (fr) f
• Galician: traxedia (gl) f
• Georgian: ტრაგედია (ṭragedia)
• German: Tragödie (de) f
• Greek: τραγωδία (el) f (tragodía)

  Ancient: τραγῳδία f (tragōidía)

• Hebrew: טרגדיה (he) (tragédya)
• Hungarian: tragédia (hu), szomorújáték, dráma (hu)
• Italian: tragedia (it) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: 悲劇 (ja) (ひげき, higeki)
• Korean: 비극 (ko) (bigeuk)
• Latvian: traģēdija f
• Lithuanian: tragedija (lt) f
• Persian: تراژدی (fa)
• Polish: tragedia (pl) f
• Portuguese: tragédia (pt) f
• Romanian: tragedie (ro) f
• Russian: траге́дия (ru) f (tragédija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: трагедија f

  Roman: tragedija (sh) f

• Spanish: tragedia (es) f
• Swedish: tragedi (sv) c
• Thai: โศกนาฏกรรม
• Ukrainian: траге́дія f (trahédija)
• Volapük: lügadramat (vo)

genre of such works, and the art of producing them

• Armenian: ողբերգություն (hy) (oġbergutʻyun)
• Catalan: tragèdia (ca) f
• Czech: tragédie (cs) f
• Danish: tragedie c
• Esperanto: tragedio (eo)
• Finnish: tragedia (fi)
• German: Tragödie (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hebrew: טרגדיה (he) (tragédya)
• Persian: تراژدی (fa), غم‌نامه, سوگنامه (fa)
• Polish: tragedia (pl) f
• Portuguese: tragédia (pt) f
• Russian: траге́дия (ru) f (tragédija)
• Spanish: tragedia (es) f
• Tagalog: kalunusan

disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury

• Arabic: مَأْسَاة f (maʔsāh)
• Armenian: ողբերգություն (hy) (oġbergutʻyun)
• Azerbaijani: faciə (az)
• Belarusian: траге́дыя f (trahjédyja), няшча́сце n (njaščáscje), го́ра n (hóra), бяда́ f (bjadá)
• Bulgarian: траге́дия (bg) f (tragédija)
• Catalan: tragèdia (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 悲劇／悲剧 (zh) (bēijù), 悲剧 (zh) (bēijù), 慘事／惨事 (zh) (cǎnshì), 惨事 (zh) (cǎnshì)

• Czech: tragédie (cs) f
• Danish: tragedie c
• Esperanto: tragedio (eo)
• Finnish: tragedia (fi), murhenäytelmä (fi), surma (fi)
• Galician: traxedia (gl) f, catástrofe f
• German: Tragödie (de) f
• Greek: τραγωδία (el) f (tragodía)
• Hebrew: טרגדיה (he) (tragédya)
• Hungarian: tragédia (hu)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: tragedia (it) f
• Japanese: 悲劇 (ja) (ひげき, higeki), 惨事 (さんじ, sanji)
• Korean: 비극 (ko) (bigeuk), 참사 (ko) (chamsa)
• Malay: tragedi, nahas
• Maori: takerehāia
• Polish: tragedia (pl) f, nieszczęście (pl) n, gorze (pl) n, bieda (pl) f
• Portuguese: tragédia (pt) f, desastre (pt) m, catástrofe (pt) f
• Romanian: tragedie (ro) f
• Russian: траге́дия (ru) f (tragédija), несча́стье (ru) n (nesčástʹje), го́ре (ru) n (góre), беда́ (ru) f (bedá)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: трагедија f

  Roman: tragedija (sh) f

• Spanish: tragedia (es) f
• Swahili: mkasa (sw)
• Swedish: tragedi (sv) c
• Ukrainian: траге́дія f (trahédija), неща́стя (uk) n (neščástja), го́ре n (hóre), біда́ (uk) f (bidá)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} tragedie (nl)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} tragedi (sv) c
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} trajedi (tr)

Anagrams

• gyrated