English
melodrama
Melodrama comes from French mélodrame, from drame ‘drama’, and ultimately from Ancient Greek δράω ‘to act’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράω1‘to act’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδρᾶμα2‘play, drama’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdrāma2
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdrame3‘drama’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmélodrame4
- Englishearliest quotation 1956melodrama4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δρᾶμα
- 2 Wiktionary, French drame
- 3 Wiktionary, French mélodrame
- 4 Wiktionary, English melodrama
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, Delano Ames: “Rudolf was the bold, bad Baron of traditional melodrama.…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδράωWiktionary, Ancient Greek δρᾶμα‘to act’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEδρᾶμαWiktionary, French drame‘play, drama’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdrāmaWiktionary, French drame
- Frenchc. 1600–presentdrameWiktionary, French mélodrame‘drama’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmélodrameWiktionary, English melodrama
- Englishearliest quotation 1956melodramaWiktionary, English melodrama. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1956, Delano Ames: “Rudolf was the bold, bad Baron of traditional melodrama.…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support, hold’
dark, firm, drug, dry, dare, throne, drone, feasible, drain, formidable, darn, refrain, dazed, dharma, dor, dern, 40 more
through Ancient Greek δράω ‘to act’
through Ancient Greek δρᾶμα ‘play, drama’
Today it means
noun A kind of drama having a musical accompaniment to intensify the effect of certain scenes.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “melodrama”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek δρᾶμα, French drame, French mélodrame. 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 / melodrama