The word "comedy" is derived from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language Classical Greek] κωμῳδία kōmōidía, which is a compound either of κῶμος kômos (revel) or κώμη kṓmē (village) and ᾠδή ōidḗ ([[singing]]); it is possible that κῶμος itself is derived from κώμη, and originally meant a village revel. The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός kōmikós), which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in [[modern]] usage, generally confined to the sense of "[[laughter]]-provoking". Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin ''comoedia'' and Italian ''commedia'' and has, over time, passed through various shades of [[meaning]]. | The word "comedy" is derived from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language Classical Greek] κωμῳδία kōmōidía, which is a compound either of κῶμος kômos (revel) or κώμη kṓmē (village) and ᾠδή ōidḗ ([[singing]]); it is possible that κῶμος itself is derived from κώμη, and originally meant a village revel. The adjective "comic" (Greek κωμικός kōmikós), which strictly means that which relates to comedy is, in [[modern]] usage, generally confined to the sense of "[[laughter]]-provoking". Of this, the word came into modern usage through the Latin ''comoedia'' and Italian ''commedia'' and has, over time, passed through various shades of [[meaning]]. |