Drama \Dra"ma\ (?; 277), n. [L. drama, Gr. ?, fr. ? to do, act; cf. Lith. daryti.]

1. A composition, in prose or poetry, accommodated to action, and intended to exhibit a picture of human life, or to depict a series of grave or humorous actions of more than ordinary interest, tending toward some striking result. It is commonly designed to be spoken and represented by actors on the stage.

A divine pastoral drama in the Song of Solomon. --Milton.

2. A series of real events invested with a dramatic unity and interest. ``The drama of war.'' --Thackeray.

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 is the last. --Berkeley.

The drama and contrivances of God's providence. --Sharp.

3. Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature.

Note: The principal species of the drama are tragedy and comedy; inferior species are tragi-comedy, melodrama, operas, burlettas, and farces.

The romantic drama, the kind of drama whose aim is to present a tale or history in scenes, and whose plays (like those of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and others) are stories told in dialogue by actors on the stage. --J. A. Symonds.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)