edy " ▁is ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁Class ical ▁Greek ▁ κ ω μ <0xE1> <0xBF> <0xB3> δ ί α ▁k ō m ō id ía , ▁which ▁is ▁a ▁comp ound ▁of ▁ κ ῶ μ ος ▁k ô mos ▁( re vel ) ▁and ▁ <0xE1> <0xBE> <0xA0> δ ή ▁ ō id <0xE1> <0xB8> <0x97> ▁( sing ing ; ▁o de ). ▁The ▁ad jective ▁" com ic " ▁( G reek ▁ κ ω μ ι κ ό ς ▁k ō m ik ós ), ▁which ▁strictly ▁means ▁that ▁which ▁rel ates ▁to ▁comedy ▁is , ▁in ▁modern ▁usage , ▁generally ▁conf ined ▁to ▁the ▁sense ▁of ▁" la ugh ter - prov oking ". ▁Of ▁this , ▁the ▁word ▁came ▁into ▁modern ▁usage ▁through ▁the ▁Latin ▁como edia ▁and ▁Italian ▁comm edia ▁and ▁has , ▁over ▁time , ▁passed ▁through ▁various ▁sh ades ▁of ▁meaning . ▁ ▁The ▁Gree ks ▁and ▁Rom ans ▁conf ined ▁their ▁use ▁of ▁the ▁word ▁" com edy " ▁to ▁descri ptions ▁of ▁stage - plays ▁with ▁happy ▁end ings . ▁Arist ot le ▁defined ▁comedy ▁as ▁an ▁im itation ▁of ▁men ▁worse ▁than ▁the ▁average ▁( where ▁tra ged y ▁was ▁an ▁im itation ▁of ▁men ▁better ▁than ▁the ▁average ). ▁However , ▁the ▁characters ▁port rayed ▁in ▁com ed ies ▁were ▁not ▁worse ▁than ▁average ▁in ▁every ▁way , ▁only ▁in so far ▁as ▁they ▁are ▁R id icul ous , ▁which ▁is ▁a ▁species ▁of ▁the ▁U gly . ▁The ▁R