2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Drama \Dra"ma\ (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. ?, fr. ? to do, act;
cf. Lith. daryti.]
1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action,
and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to
depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than
ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It
is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by
actors on the stage.
A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon.
--Milton.
2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and
interest. ``The drama of war.'' --Thackeray.
Westward the course of empire takes its way; The
four first acts already past, A fifth shall close
the drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is
the last. --Berkeley.
The drama and contrivances of God's providence.
--Sharp.
3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or
illustrating it; dramatic literature.
Note: The principal species of the drama are {tragedy} and
{comedy}; inferior species are {tragi-comedy},
{melodrama}, {operas}, {burlettas}, and {farces}.
{The romantic drama}, the kind of drama whose aim is to
present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like
those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories
told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
drama
n 1: a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a
stage; "he wrote several plays but only one was produced
on Broadway" [syn: {play}, {dramatic play}]
2: an episode that is turbulent or highly emotional [syn: {dramatic
event}]
3: the literary genre of works intended for the theater
4: the quality of being arresting or highly emotional