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 *dʰeh₂u-.

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)

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