pantomime

Circa 17th century, from Latin pantomīmus, from Ancient Greek παντόμιμος (pantómimos), from πᾶς (pâs, “each, all”) + μιμέομαι (miméomai, “I mimic”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpantəˌmʌɪm/
• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈpæntəˌmaɪm/

pantomime (countable and uncountable, plural pantomimes)

1. (now rare) A Classical comic actor, especially one who works mainly through gesture and mime. [from 17th c.]
   • Tylor

     [He] saw a pantomime perform so well that he could follow the performance from the action alone.

2. (historical) The drama in ancient Greece and Rome featuring such performers; or (later) any of various kinds of performance modelled on such work. [from 17th c.]
3. (Britain) A traditional theatrical entertainment, originally based on the commedia dell'arte, but later aimed mostly at children and involving physical comedy, topical jokes, call and response, and fairy-tale plots. [from 18th c.]
   • 2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport‎:

     With the Stoke supporters jeering Ziv's every subsequent touch, the pantomime atmosphere created by the home crowd reached a crescendo when Ziv was shown a straight red shortly after the break in extraordinary circumstances.

4. Gesturing without speaking; dumb-show, mime. [from 18th c.]
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 26

     A staid, steadfast man, whose life for the most part was a telling pantomime of action, and not a tame chapter of sounds.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 26:

     In pantomime, Chief Joyi would fling his spear and creep along the veld as he narrated the victories and defeats.

• panto

• dumb show
• mime
• pantomimical

• sign language

• dumb show

pantomime (third-person singular simple present pantomimes, present participle pantomiming, simple past and past participle pantomimed)

1. (transitive) To make (a gesture) without speaking.

   I pantomimed steering a car; he understood, and tossed the keys to me.

2. (transitive) To entertain others by silent gestures or actions. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

pantomime f

1. plural of pantomima

pantomīme

1. vocative singular of pantomīmus