Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Nearby Entries
comic - 6 dictionary results

com⋅ic

[kom-ik]
–adjective
1. of, pertaining to, or characterized by comedy: comic opera.
2. of or pertaining to a person who acts in or writes comedy: a comic actor; a comic dramatist.
3. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of comedy: comic situations; a comic sense.
4. provoking laughter; humorous; funny; laughable.
–noun
5. a comedian.
6. comic book.
7. comics, comic strips.
8. the comic, the element or quality of comedy in literature, art, drama, etc.: An appreciation of the comic came naturally to her.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L cōmicus < Gk kōmikós, equiv. to kôm(os) a revel + -ikos -ic

comic book

–noun
a magazine with one or more comic strips.
Also called comic, funny book.


Origin:
1940–45
com·ic   (kŏm'ĭk)   
adj.  
  1. Characteristic of or having to do with comedy.
  2. Of or relating to comic strips.
  3. Amusing; humorous: a comic situation involving the family's pets.
n.  
    1. A comedian.
    2. A person whose behavior elicits laughter.
    3. comics Comic strips.
    4. A comic book.
    1. comics Comic strips.
    2. A comic book.
  1. A source of humor in art or life.

[Middle English comice, from Latin cōmicus, from Greek kōmikos, from kōmos, revel.]

Comic

Com"ic\, a. [L. comicus pertaining to comedy, Gr. ?: cf. F. comique. See Comedy.]

1. Relating to comedy, as distinct from tragedy.

I can not for the stage a drama lay, Tragic or comic, but thou writ'st the play. --B. Jonson.

2. Causing mirth; ludicrous. "Comic shows." --Shak.

Comic

Com"ic\, n. A comedian. [Obs.] --Steele.
Language Translation for : comic
Spanish: cómico,
German: Lustspiel-…,
Japanese: 喜劇の

comic  (adj.)
1387, "of comedy in the dramatic sense," from L. comicus, from Gk. komikos "of or pertaining to comedy," from komos (see comedy). Meaning "intentionally funny" first recorded 1791, and comedic (1639) has since picked up the classical sense of the word.
"Speaking of the masters of the comedic spirit (if I call it, as he does, the Comic Spirit, this darkened generation will suppose me to refer to the animal spirits of tomfools and merryandrews) ...." G.B. Shaw, 1897
Something that is comic has comedy as its aim or origin; something is comical (c.1432) if the effect is comedy, whether intended or not. Noun meaning "a comedian" is from 1619; that of "comic book or strip" is from 1889. Comic strip first attested 1920; comic book is from 1941.
Search another word or see comic on Thesaurus | Reference
>