pantomime
See also: Pantomime
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Circa 17th century, from Latin pantomīmus, from Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos), from πᾶς (pâs, “each, all”) + μιμέομαι (miméomai, “I mimic”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
pantomime (countable and uncountable, plural pantomimes)
- (now rare) A Classical comic actor, especially one who works mainly through gesture and mime. [from 17th c.]
- Tylor
- [He] saw a pantomime perform so well that he could follow the performance from the action alone.
- Tylor
- (historical) The drama in ancient Greece and Rome featuring such performers; or (later) any of various kinds of performance modelled on such work. [from 17th c.]
- (Britain) A traditional theatrical entertainment, originally based on the commedia dell'arte, but later aimed mostly at children and involving physical comedy, topical jokes, call and response, and fairy-tale plots. [from 18th c.]
- 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport[1]:
- With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.
- Gesturing without speaking; dumb-show, mime. [from 18th c.]
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 26
- A staid, steadfast man, whose life for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and not a tame chapter of sounds.
- 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 26:
- In pantomime, Chief Joyi would fling his spear and creep along the veld as he narrated the victories and defeats.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 26
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
See alsoEdit
TranslationsEdit
A traditional Christmas entertainment, mostly for children
gesturing without speaking
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See alsoEdit
VerbEdit
pantomime (third-person singular simple present pantomimes, present participle pantomiming, simple past and past participle pantomimed)
- (transitive) To make (a gesture) without speaking.
- I pantomimed steering a car; he understood, and tossed the keys to me.
- (transitive) To entertain others by silent gestures or actions. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
TranslationsEdit
to gesture without speaking
to entertain others by gestures or actions
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
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