Art & MusicGreek → English
Comic
/ˈkɒmɪk/adjective
Meant to be funny, or belonging to comedy.
The Greek roots
κῶμος
kômos
revel, festive procession
Literally: “of the revel”
Follow a root:κῶμος4 words
The story of the word
A κῶμος was a drunken procession through the streets with pipes and singing, the thing that happened when a festival spilled out of doors. κωμῳδία was the song of that procession, so comedy is named after the party and not after laughter. Encomium comes out of the same rowdy word: ἐγκώμιον was a praise-song delivered in the middle of the revel.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 1580s
Same family
comedycomedianencomium
In a sentence
The timing is what makes it comic; on the page the line is flat.
He bought the whole run of comics with his first paycheque.