Drama Is Greek for a Thing Done
Drama is a play or a tense situation. The Greek word means action, which is why theatre is about doing rather than telling.
Drama is a play, the art of theatre, or an exciting and tense situation. Greek *drama* means simply a thing done, from *dran*, to do — which is the essential distinction from epic poetry, where a narrator tells you what happened. In drama nobody narrates: people act, and the audience watches the doing. The informal sense, as in *don't make a drama out of it*, borrows theatre's reputation for excess.
- A play. *A radio drama.*
- The art of theatre. *She studied drama.*
- An exciting situation. *High drama in the final.*
- Fuss (informal). *Stop the drama.*
- Greek — *dran*, to do. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | drama | A tense drama. |
| Plural | dramas | Historical dramas. |
| Adjective | dramatic | A dramatic finish. |
| Verb | dramatise | Dramatise the novel. |
| Greek | dran | To do. |
- The drama runs for two hours.Theatre.
- There was high drama at the vote.Events.
- Don't make a drama out of it.Informal.
Drama and its neighbours
- Drama — a story enacted, from Greek for a thing done
- Epic — a story narrated, traditionally in verse
- Tragedy — literally goat song, of disputed reason
- Comedy — from *komos*, a revel
- Melodrama — drama with music, later meaning overblown
Late Latin *drama*, from Greek *drama*, a play or action, from *dran*, to do or act.
Why is theatre called drama?
Because it shows action rather than narrating it. The Greek word means a thing done.
What is melodrama?
Originally a drama with music. It came to mean a story with exaggerated emotion and clear-cut heroes and villains.