absurdteater

Norwegian Bokmål

Waiting for Godot, an absurdist play.

Etymology

absurd +‎ teater, first part from Latin absurdus (“incongruous, dissonant, out of tune”), from both ab- (“from, away from, off”), from Latin ab (“from, away from, on, in”), from Proto-Italic *ab, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epó (“off, away”) + and from surdus (“silent, deaf, dull-sounding”), from Proto-Indo-European *swer- (“to resound; ringing, whistling”).

Last part from French théâtre (“theatre”), from Middle French theatre (“theatre”), from Old French theatre, teatre (“theatre”), from Latin theātrum (“theatre”), from Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, “theatre, gathering place; play, spectacle”), from θεάομαι (theáomai, “to see, watch, observe”) (with the suffix -τρον (-tron), from Proto-Hellenic *-tron, from Proto-Indo-European *-trom, from *-tḗr), possibly from Proto-Hellenic *θᾱϝέομαι, *θᾱϝέομαι, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₂w-.

Or directly from French théâtre de l’absurde (“Theater of the Absurd”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /abˈsʉɖtɛɑːtər/, /abˈsʉʁdtɛɑːtər/, /apˈsʉɖtɛɑːtər/, /apˈsʉʁdtɛɑːtər/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ər
• Hyphenation: ab‧surd‧te‧a‧ter

Noun

absurdteater n (uncountable)

1. the Theatre of the Absurd (plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s)
   • 1976, Leif Longum, Å lese skuespill, page 122:

     ordenes sammenbrudd, som kanskje er det viktigste fellestema ved det absurde teater

     the breakdown of words, which is perhaps the most important common theme of the absurd theater

   • 1968, Erna Holmboe Bang, Franske profiler, page 6:

     innen den bildende kunst hadde det non-figurative vunnet terreng, absurdteatret hadde også gjort sine fremstøt

     in the visual arts the non-figurative had gained ground, the absurd theater had also made its advances

   • 2014 April 11, Romsdals Budstikke, page 31:

     sammen med en del andre forfattere er Beckett kjent for å skrive absurdteater

     Along with a number of other writers, Beckett is known for writing absurd theater

Related terms

• absurd
• absurdisme
• absurdist
• absurdistisk
• absurditet
• ad absurdum
• in absurdum

 

References

• “absurdteater” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “absurd teater” in Store norske leksikon