BURLESQUE

I. noun Etymology: ~, adjective, comic, droll, from French, from Italian burlesco, from burla joke, from Spanish Date: 1667 a literary or dramatic work that seeks to ridicule by means of grotesque exaggeration or comic imitation, mockery usually by caricature, theatrical entertainment of a broadly humorous often earthy character consisting of short turns, comic skits, and sometimes striptease acts, see: caricature ~ adjective ~ly adverb II. verb (~d; burlesquing) Date: 1676 transitive verb to imitate in a humorous or derisive manner ; mock , intransitive verb to employ ~, ~r noun