drama 
and accessories or surrounding conditions, the 
whole produced with reference to truth or prob- 
ability, and with or without the aid of music, 
dancing, painting, and decoration; a play. 
The church was usually the theatre wherein these pious 
drama* were performed, and the actors were the ecclesi- 
astics or their scholars. 
Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 227. 
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 i the last. 
Dp. Berkeley, Arts mid Learning In America. 
A drama is the imitation (in a particular way) of an 
action regarded as one, and treated as complete. In the 
observation of the process of n complete action, and In 
the attempt to imitate It in accordance with such obser- 
vation, must therefore bo sought the beginnings of the 
drama. A. W. Ward, Eng. Dram. Lit,, Ink, p. xvlL 
2. A composition in verso or prose, or in both, 
presenting in dialogue a course of human 
action, designed, or seemingly designed, to be 
spoken in character and represented on the 
stage ; a form of imitated and represented ac- 
tion regulated by literary canons ; the descrip- 
tion of a story converted into the action of a 
play, and thereby constituting a department of 
literary art: as, the classic drama; the Hindu 
drama ; the Elizabethan drama. The construction 
of such a composition is, as a general rule, marked by 
three stages : first, the opening of the movement ; second, 
the growth or development of the action ; third, the close 
or catastrophe, which must in all cases bo the consequence 
of the action itself, as unfolded in acts, scenes, and situa- 
tions. The drama, whether in actual life or mimic repre- 
sentation, assumes two principal forms, namely, tragedy 
and eomeily ; and from modifications or combinations of 
these result the mixed or minor forms, known as tragi- 
comedy, melodrama, lyric drama or grand opera, opera 
boutfe, farce, and burletta. Other forms, suggested by the 
subject and the manner of presenting it, are the nautical 
drama, the pastoral drama, the society drama, etc. Both 
tragedy and comedy attained a high degree of develop- 
ment in t In- ancient Greek drama, which originated in 
the worship of Bacchus. 
Sophocles made the Greek drama as dramatic as was 
consistent witli its original form. Macaulay, Milton. 
It is sometimes supposed that the drama consists of 
incident. It consists of passion, which gives the actor 
his opportunity ; and that passion must progressively in- 
crease, or the actor, as the piece proceeded, would be un- 
able to carry the audience from a lower to a higher pitch 
of interest and emotion. 
S. L. Stevenson, A Humble Remonstrance. 
In the epic poem there is only one speaker the poet 
himself. The action is bygone. The scene is described. 
The persons are spoken of as third persons. There are 
only two concerned in it, the poet and the reader. In the 
drama the action is present, the scene is visible, the per- 
sons are speakers, the sentiments and passions are theirs. 
Diim Boucicault, in New York Herald, July 6, 1888. 
8. Dramatic representation with its adjuncts ; 
theatrical entertainment: as, he has a strong 
taste for the drama. 
It was on the support of these parts of the town that 
the playhouses depended. The character of the drama 
became conformed to the character of its patrons. 
Macaulay, Comic Dramatists. 
4. Action, humanly considered; a course of 
connected acts, involving motive, procedure, 
and purpose, and by a related sequence of 
events or episodes leading up to a catastrophe 
or crowning issue. 
The great drama and contrivances of God's providence. 
Sharp, Works, I. xlli. 
Let us endeavor to comprehend . . . the part assigned 
to us in the great drama of human affairs. 
D. Webtter, Bunker Hill, June 17, 1825. 
dramatic (dra-mat'ik), a. [= P. dramatique 
= Sp. dramatico = Pg. dramatico = It. dram- 
matico (cf. D. G. dramatisch = Dan. Sw. dra- 
matisk), < LL. dramaticus, < Gr. dpapariKof, < 
tipa/ia(r-), a drama: see drama.] 1. Of or per- 
taining to the drama ; represented by action ; 
appropriate to or in the form of a written or 
acted drama: as, dramatic action; a dramatic 
poem. 
Dramatic literature is that form of literary composition 
which accommodates itself to the demands of an art whose 
method is imitation in the way of action. 
A. W. Ward, Eng. Dram. Lit., Int., p. viii. 
2. Employing the form or manner of the drama ; 
writing or acting dramatically or theatrically: 
as, a dramatic poet; a dramatic speaker. 
The materials \vhich human life now supplies to the 
di-ainatic poet give him a power to move our pity and 
terror such ea ancient tragic art ... did not and could 
not possess. J. Caird. 
3. Characterized by the force and animation 
in action or expression appropriate to the 
drama; expressed with action, or with the 
effect of action: as, a dramatic description; a 
dramatic appeal. 
l-'n>m thener, in my judgement, it proceeds, that as the 
Iliad was written while his spiritwas in its greatest vigour, 
the whole structure of that work is dramatick and full of 
action. Pop?, Homer, Postscript. 
1759 
dramatical (dra-mat'i-kal), a. Same as dra- 
matic. [Rare.] 
Dramaticall, or representative [poesy], is, as It were, a 
visible history ; (or it sets out the image of tilings as if 
they were present ; ami history, as if they were past. 
Bacon, On Learning, 11. 
Cicero, who is known to have been an intimate friend 
of Roscius the actor, ami a good judge of dramatical per- 
formances. Spectator, No. 141. 
dramatically (dra-mat'i-kal-i), adv. In the 
manner of the drama ; by representation ; vivid- 
ly and strikingly ; as regards or concerns the 
drama ; from a dramatic point of view : as, dra- 
matically related; dramatically considered. 
This plea, though it might save me dramatically, will 
damn me biographically, rendering my book from this very 
moment a professed romance. 
Steriu, Tristram Shandy, II. viii. 
dramatisable, dramatisation, etc. See 
dramati:able, etc. 
dramatis persona (dram'a-tis per-so'ne). 
[NL. : dramatis, gen. of LIJ'. drama, a play ; 
personal, pi. of L. persona, a person : see drama 
and person.] The persons of the drama ; the 
characters in a play . Abbreviated dram. pers. 
dramatist (dram'a-tist), n. [< F. dramatiste = 
Pg. dramatista, < LL. as if 'dramatista, < dra- 
ma^), drama, + -igta, E. -ist.] The author of 
a dramatic composition; a writer of plays; a 
playwright. 
In all the works of the great dramatist [Shakspere] there 
occur not more than fifteen thousand words. 
G. P. Marth, Lects. on Eng. Lang., viii. 
dramatizable (dram'a-tl-za-bl), a. [< drama- 
tize + -able.] Capable of being dramatized or 
presented in the form of a drama. Also spelled 
dramatisable. 
dramatization (dram'a-ti-za'shon), n. [< 
dramatise + -ation.] The act of dramatizing; 
dramatic construction; dramatic representa- 
tion. Also spelled dramatisation. 
The spectators [of the ancient drama] lent their faith to 
the representation, as we, at this period, should lend our 
feelings If we could witness a perfect dramatization of the 
life and death of our Saviour. ^V. A. Rev., CXXVI. 61. 
dramatize (dram'a-tiz), v. t. ; pret. and pp.draw- 
atized, ppr. dramatizing. [= D. dramatiseren = 
Q. dramatisiren = Dan. dramatisere = Sw. dra- 
matisera, < P. dramatiscr = Sp. dramatizar, < 
LL. drama(t-), drama: see drama and -fee.] 1. 
To make a drama of; put into dramatic form; 
adapt for representation on the stage : as, to 
dramatize an incident or an adventure ; to 
dramatize a legend or a novel. 
At Riga, in 1204, was acted a prophetic play : that is, 
a dramatized extract from the history of the Old and New 
Testaments. Tooke, Russia. 
2. To express or manifest dramatically ; bring 
out in a dramatic or theatrical manner. 
This power of rapidly dramatizing a dry fact Into flesh 
and blood. Lowell, Biglow Papers, Int. 
Mr. Farebrother . . . dramatized an intense interest in 
the tale to please the children. 
George Eliot, Middlemarch, II. 242. 
Also spelled dramatise. 
dramaturge (dram'a-terj), n. [= P. drama- 
turge = Sp. Pg. dramaturge = It. drammaturgo 
= D. G. Dan. Sw. dramaturg, < Gr. 
drapet 
dram. pers. An abbreviation of dramatis per- 
(MM. 
dram-shop (dram'shop), n. A shop where 
spirits are sold in drams or other small quanti- 
ties, chiefly to be drunk at the counter. 
drank (drangk). Preterit (and often past par- 
ticiple) of drink. 
drape (drap), v. ; pret. and pp. draped, ppr. 
draping. [= D. draperen = G. drapiren = Dan. 
drapers = Sw. drapera, drape, < OP. drti/in-, 
make or full cloth, make into cloth, P. draper, 
cover with mourning-cloth, dress, drape, etc.. < 
drap, cloth (> E. drab 1 *, q. v.), = Pr. drap = It. 
drappo Sp. Pg. trapn, < ML. drappus, drapis, 
also trapus, cloth, perhaps of Tout, origin: see 
trappings.'} I. trans. 1. To cover with or as with 
cloth; clothe; dress, as a window, an alcove, the 
outside of a house, etc., the human body, or a 
representation of the human body, as in sculp- 
ture or painting : as, the buildings were draped 
with flags ; the painter's figures are well draped. 
Like some sweet sculpture draped from head to foot, 
And push'd by rude hands from its pedestal. 
TennyHon, Princess, v. 
And I'll pick you an arbor, green and still, 
Drape it with arras down to the floor. 
R. U. Stoddard, The Squire of Low Degree. 
Cheapslde, to outshine her rivals, was draped even more 
splendidly in cloth of gold, and tissue, and velvet. 
Froude, Sketches, p. 174. 
2. To arrange or adjust, as clothing, hangings, 
etc. Specifically used of adjusting (a) in drestnnaking, 
the folds of stuff in the style called for by the fashion 
or by taste; (6) in upholilery, folds, festoons, etc., as of 
curtains or hangings ; (c) in the fine arta, the folds of a 
dress, rol>e, etc., in a sculptured or painted representa- 
tion. Compare drapery, 3. 
3f. To make into cloth. 
For Spanish wooll in Flaunders draped is, 
And euer hath bee, that men haue tninde of this. 
Hakluyt'i Voyages, 1. 188. 
U. intrans. To make cloth. 
This act ... stinted them [prices] not to exceed a rate, 
that the clothier might drape accordingly as he might af- 
ford. Bacon, Hist. Hen. VII. 
draper (dra'per), H. [< ME. draper, < OF. dra- 
per, drapier, F. drapier (= OSp. drapero, Sp. 
trapero = Pg. traneiro = It. drappierc), a dealer 
in cloth, < drap, cloth.] One who makes or sells 
cloths ; a dealer in cloths : as, a linen-draper or 
woolen-draper. 
draperess (dra'per-es), n. [< draper + -ess.] 
A woman who deals in cloths. 
It Is no mean sign of the democratic day we live in 
when a little draperesa lives to make such princely lar- 
gess. Contemporary Ken., LIII. 320. 
drapcried (dra'per-id), a. [< drapery + -td?.] 
Furnished with drapery ; covered as with dra- 
pery; draped. 
There were some great masses [of rocks] that had been 
detached by the action of the weather, and lay half im- 
bedded in the sand, draperitd over by the heavy pendant 
olive-green sea-weed. Mrs. Gatkell, Sylvia's Lovers, xviii. 
draperingt (dra'per-ing), n. [Verbal n. of "dra- 
per, v. (equiv. to drape).] 
draping. 
. 
per, v. (equiv. to drape).] A making into cloth ; 
a dramatic poet, a playwright, < c5pa//a(r-), a 
drama, + "epyuv, v., work, Ipyov, work.] A 
writer of plays ; a dramaturgist. 
What was lacking to the tragedy in the law court was a 
Chardin I mean a dramaturge to set it forth. 
Athenaeum, No. 3151, p. 343. 
dramaturgic (dram-a-ter'jik), a. [= P. dra- 
maturgique; as dramaturge + -ic.] Pertaining 
to dramaturgy; histrionic; theatrical; stagy; 
hence, unreal. 
Some form [of worship] it is to be hoped not grown 
dramaturgic to us, but still awfully symbolic for us. 
Carlyle, Cromwell, I. 145. 
Solemn entries, and grand processioning, and other 
dramaturgic grandeur. Lowe, Bismarck, I. 314. 
dramaturgist (dram'a-ter-jist), . [As drama- 
turge + -ist.] One wfip composes a drama and 
directs its representation ; a playwright. 
How silent now ; all departed, clean gone ! The World- 
Dramaturgist has written, "Exeunt." 
Carlyle, Past and Present, ii. 2. 
dramaturgy (dram'a-ter-ji), n. [< P. drama- 
turgic = Sp. Pg. dramaturgia = It. drammaturgia 
= D. G. dramaturgic = Dan. Sw. dramaturgi, < 
Gr. ipa/taTovpyia, ^ dpa^aTOvpf6f, a playwright: 
see dramaturge.] 1. The science which treats 
of the rules of dramatic composition and rep- 
resentation; the dramatic art. 2. Theatrical 
representation ; histrionism. 
Some ceremonial points, which, as they found no war- 
rant for them in the Bible, they suspected, with a very 
natural shudder in that case, to savour of idol-worship and 
mimetic dramaturgy. Carlyle, Cromwell, I. 29. 
drammock (dram'ok), n. Same as drummock. 
By Drapering of our wooll in substance 
Linen her commons ; this is her gouernauce, 
Without wich they may not Hue at ease. 
Hakluyt'i Voyages, I. 189. 
drapery (dra'per-i), w. ; pi. draperies (-iz). [< 
ME. draperie = D. G. draperie = Dan. Sw. dra- 
peri, < OF. draperie, F. draperie (= Pr. dra- 
paria = Sp. traperia = It. dranperid), < drap, 
etc., cloth: see drape.] 1. The occupation 
of a draper ; the trade of making or of selling 
cloth. 2. Cloth, or textile fabrics of any de- 
scription. 
Hail be 30 marchans with gur grot packes of draperie. 
Early Eng. Poems (ed. Fnrnivall), p. 154. 
The duty on woollen cloths or the old drapery, charged 
at so much the piece of cloth, was calculated after the rate 
of two farthings and a half a farthing for every pound 
weight for Englishmen ; but strangers paid a double rate, 
besides the old duty of Is. 2d. the piece. 
S. Dowell, Taxes in England, II. 20. 
3. Such cloth or textile fabrics when used for 
garments or for upholstery; specifically, in 
sculp, and painting, the representation of the 
clothing or dress of human figures ; also, tapes- 
try, hangings, curtains, etc. 
Like one that wraps the drapery of his conch 
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 
Bryant, Thanatopsls. 
Her wine-dark drapery, fold in fold, 
Imprisoned by an ivory hand. 
T. B. Aldrich, Pampinea. 
To cast the draperies. See casti, v. 
drapett (drap'et), n. [Dim. of F. drap, cloth.] 
A cloth; a coverlet; a table-cloth. 
Many tables fayre dispred, 
And ready dight with drapett festival). 
Spcnter, F. Q., II. ta. 27. 
