Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Tragedy
Trag′e-dy
,Noun.
pl.
Tragedies
(#)
. [OE.
tragedie
, OF. tragedie
, F. tragédie
, L. tragoedia
, Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] a tragic poet and singer, originally, a goat singer; [GREEK] a goat (perhaps akin to [GREEK] to gnaw, nibble, eat, and E. trout
) + [GREEK] to sing; from the oldest tragedies being exhibited when a goat was sacrificed, or because a goat was the prize, or because the actors were clothed in goatskins. See Ode
.] 1.
A dramatic poem, composed in elevated style, representing a signal action performed by some person or persons, and having a fatal issue; that species of drama which represents the sad or terrible phases of character and life.
Tragedy
is to say a certain storie,As olde bookes maken us memorie,
Of him that stood in great prosperitee
And is yfallen out of high degree
Into misery and endeth wretchedly.
Chaucer.
All our
tragedies
are of kings and princes. Jer. Taylor.
tragedy
is poetry in its deepest earnest; comedy is poetry in unlimited jest. Coleridge.
2.
A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more especially by unauthorized violence.
Webster 1828 Edition
Tragedy
TRAG'EDY
,Noun.
1.
A dramatic poem representing some signal action performed by illustrious persons, and generally having a fatal issue. Aeschylus is called the father of tragedy. All our tragedies are of kings and princes.
2.
A fatal and mournful event; any event in which human lives are lost by human violence, more particularly by unauthorized violence.Definition 2024
tragedy
tragedy
English
Alternative forms
Noun
tragedy (countable and uncountable, plural tragedies)
- A drama or similar work, in which the main character is brought to ruin or otherwise suffers the extreme consequences of some tragic flaw or weakness of character.
- The genre of such works, and the art of producing them.
- A disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury.
- 1905, Baroness Emmuska Orczy, chapter 1, in The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace:
- “The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”
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Antonyms
Derived terms
Terms derived from tragedy
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Translations
drama or similar work
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genre of such works, and the art of producing them
disastrous event, especially one involving great loss of life or injury
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