Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.