noun pl. tragedies -·dies

1. 1. a serious play or drama typically dealing with the problems of a central character, leading to an unhappy or disastrous ending brought on, as in ancient drama, by fate and a tragic flaw in this character, or, in modern drama, usually by moral weakness, psychological maladjustment, or social pressures
   2. such plays collectively
   3. the branch of drama having to do with such plays
2. the writing, acting, or theoretical principles of this kind of drama
3. a novel or other literary work with similar characteristics
4. the tragic element of such a literary work, or of a real event
5. a very sad or tragic event or sequence of events; disaster

Etymology: ME tragedie < MFr < L tragoedia < Gr tragōidia, tragedy, lit., the song of the goat < tragos, goat ( < IE *treg-, to gnaw < base *ter-, to rub, grind > throw) + ōidē, song (see ode): so named ? because of the goatskin dress of the performers, representing satyrs