commedia dell'arte

noun com·me·dia del·l'ar·te \kə-ˌmā-dē-ə-(ˌ)del-ˈär-tē, kə-ˌme-\

Definition of COMMEDIA DELL'ARTE

: Italian comedy of the 16th to 18th centuries improvised from standardized situations and stock characters

Italian, literally, comedy of art

First Known Use: 1823

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