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comedy of errors

 - 3 dictionary results

Comedy of Errors, The

–noun
an early comedy (1594) by Shakespeare.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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com·e·dy   (kŏm'ĭ-dē)   
n.   pl. com·e·dies
    1. A dramatic work that is light and often humorous or satirical in tone and that usually contains a happy resolution of the thematic conflict.

    2. The genre made up of such works.

  1. A literary or cinematic work of a comic nature or that uses the themes or methods of comedy.

  2. Popular entertainment composed of jokes, satire, or humorous performance.

  3. The art of composing or performing comedy.

  4. A humorous element of life or literature: the human comedy of political campaigns.

  5. A humorous occurrence.


[Middle English comedie, from Medieval Latin cōmēdia, from Latin cōmoedia, from Greek kōmōidia, from kōmōidos, comic actor : kōmos, revel + aoidos, singer (from aeidein, to sing; see wed-2 in Indo-European roots).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Idioms & Phrases

comedy of errors

A complex or humorous series of events, as in Mary and John went to the Smiths', while the Smiths went to the Parkers', and the Parkers wondered why no one answered the door at John and Mary'sa true comedy of errors. The term borrows the title of Shakespeare's play, The Comedy of Errors, about two sets of twin brothers, master and slave, who are separated in infancy, and the mix-ups occurring when they arrive in the same place many years later. [c. 1600]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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