farce

Meanings

1. A style of humor marked by broad improbabilities with little regard to regularity or method.
2. A motion picture or play featuring this style of humor.
3. A situation abounding with ludicrous incidents.
4. A ridiculous or empty show.
5. An elaborate lie.
6. Forcemeat, stuffing.

1. To stuff with forcemeat or other food items.
2. To fill full; to stuff.
3. To make fat.
4. To swell out; to render pompous.
5. Alternative form of farse (“to insert vernacular paraphrases into (a Latin liturgy)”).

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French farce (“farce (style of humor); stuffing”) (in the latter sense, via Middle English fars, farsse), from Old French farse, from Medieval Latin farsa, from the feminine perfect passive participle of Latin farciō (“to stuff”). The theatre sense alludes to the pleasant and varied character of certain stuffed food items. Doublet of farse.