Comedians

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Entertainers who utilize humor as their primary craft, often through storytelling and jokes; Professionals who engage audiences by creating and delivering funny performances; Individuals skilled in provoking laughter and amusement through comedic routines and scenarios
2. Persons skilled in making audiences laugh using humor and wit
3. Artists who create comedic acts to amuse and entertain spectators

Etymology: "Comedians" is the plural of "comedian," and the singular was borrowed into English from French "comédien," which itself came from "comédie." That French noun traces back through Old French and Latin "cōmoedia" to the Ancient Greek "kōmōidía," a compound of "kōmos" (a revel or festive procession) and "ōidē" (song). The Greek sense was therefore closer to "revel-song" than to anything we would call funny. The suffix "-ian" is the key to the modern word's shape. English took "comedy" as a general term for light, humorous drama, and "comedian" was formed from it on the pattern of words ending in "-ian," which denote a person connected with something. In the original French, "comédien" meant an actor, a sense English kept for a time, so the term once referred to stage performers in general rather than to people who make audiences laugh.

Synonyms: humorists, comics, clowns, jokers

Antonyms: seriousness, stoics