English
melodrame
Melodrame comes from French mélodrame ‘melodrama’, 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‘melodrama’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828melodrame4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek δρᾶμα
- 2 Wiktionary, French drame
- 3 Wiktionary, French mélodrame
- 4 Wiktionary, English melodrame
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, John Scott, John Taylor: “Ratisbon is the city from which our voyager starts,…”.
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 melodrame‘melodrama’
- Englishearliest quotation 1828melodrameWiktionary, English melodrame. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1828, John Scott, John Taylor: “Ratisbon is the city from which our voyager starts,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dʰer- ‘to support, hold’
dark, firm, drug, dry, dare, throne, drone, feasible, formidable, drain, darn, refrain, dharma, dazed, dor, dern, 39 more
through Ancient Greek δράω ‘to act’
through Ancient Greek δρᾶμα ‘play, drama’
through Latin drāma
Today it means
noun —
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “melodrame”; 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 / melodrame