Tragedienne

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A female performer who specializes in playing tragic or sorrowful characters in dramatic productions
2. An actress who excels in roles requiring the portrayal of intense suffering and dramatic tragedy
3. A woman actor skilled in performing serious dramatic roles that explore themes of sorrow and catastrophe

Etymology: "Tragedienne" is a feminine form of "tragedian," an actor or writer of tragedy, and its own history is a matter of gender in French. French formed "tragédienne" by taking "tragédie" (tragedy) and adding the feminine suffix "-ienne," so that a woman performing tragic roles had a name of her own, parallel to "comédienne" for women in comedy. English borrowed the French form directly rather than building it from English parts. The word therefore carries two layers at once: the Greek root "tragōidia," meaning roughly "goat song," and a French suffix that marks the performer as female. Because English took the whole French word, it keeps that feminine marking intact, which is why it sounds more theatrical and specific than the gender-neutral "tragedian."

Synonyms: actress, performer