a disastrous event; a calamity
a serious drama in which destructive circumstances result in adversity for, and usu the deaths of, the main characters: compare comedy
Middle English tragedie via French and Latin from Greek tragōidia, prob from tragos goat + aeidein to sing. It has been suggested that the origin of the word is linked with the goat-satyrs which appeared in some Peloponnesian plays, but there is no evidence to prove or disprove this