Word of the Day: May 5, 2009 ~ farce

farce (fahrs) - noun

A farce is "a light, humorous play in which the plot depends upon a skillfully exploited situation rather than upon the development of character."

First used in the written form around 1300-1350. Farce originally meant "stuff" (widening gastronomic knowledge in the late 20th century has made us more familiar with its French cousin farcir 'stuff,' and the force- of forcemeat is the same word).  It came via Old French farsir from Latin farcire, meaning "stuff."  The Latin verb was used in the Middle Ages for the notion of inserting additional passages into the text of the Mass, and hence to padding out any text. A particular application was the insertion of impromptu, usually comical interludes into religious plays, which had lead by the 16th century to something approaching the modern meaning of farce.