Etymograph

English

drama

Drama comes from Late Latin drāma, from Greek δρᾶμα ‘an act, a play’, from δράω ‘to act’, of uncertain origin.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράω1dráō‘to act’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδρᾶμα1drâma‘an act’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdrāma1
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2018drama1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English drama
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Euan McKirdy, Thai cave rescue: Divers enter cave to free boys: “Thais have been gripped by the two-week drama unfolding…”.

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράωWiktionary, English dramadráō‘to act’
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδρᾶμαWiktionary, English dramadrâma‘an act’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEdrāmaWiktionary, English drama
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2018dramaWiktionary, English drama. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2018, Euan McKirdy, Thai cave rescue: Divers enter cave to free boys: “Thais have been gripped by the two-week drama unfolding…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with drama, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support, hold’

  • dark ← derk ← deorc ← *derk ← *dʰerg-
  • firm ← firma ← firmare ← firmo ← firmus
  • drug ← drogge ← drogue ← droge ← *drōgi
  • dry ← drye ← drȳġe ← *drūgī ← *drūgiz
  • dare ← durren ← durran ← *durʀan ← *durzaną
  • throne ← trone ← trone ← thronus ← θρόνος
  • feasible ← fesable ← facere ← fere ← *feros
  • drone ← drounen ← *drunnjan ← *drunjaną
  • formidable ← formīdābilis ← formīdō
  • darn ← dernen ← diernan ← *darnijan ← *darnī
  • drain ← *dreinen ← drēahnian ← *drauhnōn ← *drauhnōną
  • refrain ← refreynen ← refrener ← refrēnāre ← frēnāre

64 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun A composition, normally in prose, telling a story and intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “drama”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek δράω / drama