tragedy (English)

Where does "tragedy" come from?

The English noun 'tragedy' descended through Middle English 'tragedie' and Old French 'tragedie' from the Latin 'tragoedia'[1]. The Latin term was borrowed from the Ancient Greek 'τραγῳδία', meaning 'epic play, tragedy'[1]. This Greek word combines 'τράγος', meaning 'male goat', with 'ᾠδή', meaning 'song'[1]. Further back, the root traces to the Proto-Indo-European root '*terh₁-'[...]

Open questions

• The exact reasoning behind the combination of goat and song in the Greek formation remains uncertain, with competing theories suggesting either a prize for dramatic competitions or a connection to goat skin clad satyrs. [1] [4]

Full etymology tree

• tragedy (English), '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.'
  • inherited tragedie (Middle English), 'tragedy (type of dramatic work)'
    • borrowed tragedie (Old French)
    • borrowed tragoedia (Latin), 'tragedy'
      • borrowed τραγῳδία (tragōidía) (Ancient Greek), 'a tragedy or heroic play'
        • derived τραγῳδός (tragōidós) (Ancient Greek), 'tragic poet and singer'
          • compound τράγος (trágos) (Ancient Greek), 'billy-goat'
            • derived τράγω (trágo) (Ancient Greek), 'Doric form of τρώγω (trṓgō)'
            • suffix -ος (-os) (Ancient Greek), 'Added to verbal roots to form an o-grade action noun.'
          • compound ἀοιδός (aoidós) (Ancient Greek), 'musical'
            • inherited *awoidós (Proto-Hellenic), 'singer'
              • derived ᾄδειν (āídein) (Ancient Greek)
              • suffix -ός (-ós) (Ancient Greek), 'Forms agentive or patientive adjectives and nouns from the o-grade of a verbal root.'

Ancestors

• *terh₁- (Proto-Indo-European)
• tragedie (Middle English)
• tragoedia (Latin)
• τραγῳδία (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

• comedy and tragedy (English)
• comedy equals tragedy plus time (English)
• revenge tragedy (English)
• tragedy mask (English)
• tragedy of the commons (English)

Sources

1. tragedy (English) - Wiktionary
2. tragedie (Middle English) - Wiktionary
3. tragoedia (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. τραγῳδία (tragōidía) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
5. ᾠδή (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
6. ἀοιδός (aoidós) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
7. τραγῳδός (tragōidós) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
8. τράγος (trágos) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris