tragedy : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: tragedy	by the DICT Development Group
3 results for tragedy
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
tragedy n an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; "the whole city was affected by the irremediable calamity"; "the earthquake was a disaster" Synonym(s): calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, cataclysm drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity Antonym(s): comedy
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Tragedy \Trag"edy\, n.; pl. {Tragedies}. [OE. tragedie, OF. tragedie, F. trag[82]die, L. tragoedia, Gr. [?], fr. [?] a tragic poet and singer, originally, a goat singer; [?] a goat (perhaps akin to [?] to gnaw, nibble, eat, and E. trout) + [?] 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Drama \Dra"ma\ (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. [?], fr. [?] to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.] 1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage. A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. --Milton. 2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest. [bd]The drama of war.[b8] --Thackeray. Westward the course of empire takes its way; The four first acts already past, A fifth shall close the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last. --Berkeley. The drama and contrivances of God's providence. --Sharp. 3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature. Note: The principal species of the drama are {tragedy} and {comedy}; inferior species are {tragi-comedy}, {melodrama}, {operas}, {burlettas}, and {farces}. {The romantic drama}, the kind of drama whose aim is to present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.