# comedy

Pronunciation: US say "KAH-muh-dee" /ˈkɑ.mə.di/; UK say "KOM-uh-dee" /ˈkɒm.ə.di/

## Noun

1. Entertainment that relies on jokes, satire, or humorous performance to amuse people.
   - Simple: Funny shows, jokes, and acts that are made to make people laugh.
   - _He built a career in comedy, performing stand-up in clubs across the country._
   - _The festival showcases comedy in all its forms, from sketches to improv._
2. The genre comprising films, plays, and other works that are humorous or satirical in aim.
   - Simple: The kind of movies, plays, and shows made mainly to be funny.
   - _Critics often treat comedy as less serious than drama, though writing it is just as demanding._
   - _The director moved from horror into comedy with her latest feature._
3. A play, movie, or similar dramatic production that treats its subject with lighthearted humor or satire.
   - Simple: A play, movie, or TV show that is light and funny, or that makes fun of people or ideas.
   - _Her new comedy follows three roommates through a chaotic summer._
   - _The theater is staging a comedy about mistaken identities and tangled romances._
4. A light, amusing play that ends happily.
   - Simple: A funny play for the stage that ends happily.
   - _The troupe opened the season with a frothy comedy about a runaway bride._
   - _Audiences left the comedy smiling at its cheerful, tidy ending._
5. The art and craft of writing and constructing comedy that succeeds in being funny.
   - Simple: The skill of writing comedy that makes people laugh.
   - _Mastering comedy demands precise timing and a feel for surprise._
   - _He teaches comedy at a drama school, focusing on how a joke is built._
6. An event or situation so absurd or full of mishaps that it becomes funny.
   - Simple: A funny thing that happens, often by accident.
   - _What followed was a comedy of missed cues and toppled props._
   - _Their disastrous dinner party became a comedy nobody at the table would forget._
7. A narrative poem that moves toward an agreeable ending, such as Dante's Divine Comedy. *(dialectal, Europe, Medieval)*
   - Simple: A long poem that tells a story and ends happily.
   - _Dante's comedy ends not in ruin but in the radiant vision of paradise._
   - _Scholars read the comedy as a journey from despair toward divine love._
8. A festive song of celebration or revelry sung by a chorus, especially in ancient Greece.
   - Simple: A happy group song, sung by people long ago in Ancient Greece.
   - _After the wine flowed, the revelers raised a loud comedy through the moonlit streets._
   - _Each spring festival opened with a comedy sung by the assembled chorus._

## Origin

The word came through Middle English "comedie" and Middle French "comedie" from Latin "cōmoedia," itself from Ancient Greek κωμῳδία (kōmōidía). This combined κῶμος (kômos, “revel, carousing”) with either ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”) or ἀοιδός (aoidós, “singer, bard”), both from ἀείδω (aeídō, “I sing”). It is a doublet of commedia.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/comedy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).