Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “farce” come from?

Farce comes from Middle French farce, from Old French farsir meaning "to stuff," from Latin farcio, from Proto-Italic farkjō, from Proto-Indo-European bʰrekʷ-.

farce (English): A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities...

Definitions

  1. A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities...

Ancestry of “farce”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Frenchfarcecomic interlude in a mystery play
2Old Frenchfarse—
3Old Frenchfarsir—
4LatinfarcioI cram, stuff
5Proto-Italicfarkjōto stuff
6Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰrekʷ-to condense; to crowd together

Words derived from “farce”

  • farcical
  • farcically
  • farcicality
  • unfarcical
  • farcicalness
  • farcelike
  • farceness
  • semifarcical
  • farcify
  • farcement
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰrekʷ- →