episode

[ep-uh-sohd, -zohd]

See more synonyms for episode on Thesaurus.com

noun

an incident in the course of a series of events, in a person's life or experience, etc.
an incident, scene, etc., within a narrative, usually fully developed and either integrated within the main story or digressing from it.
one of a number of loosely connected, but usually thematically related, scenes or stories constituting a literary work.

epeisodion.
Music. an intermediate or digressive passage, especially in a contrapuntal composition.
Movies, Radio, and Television. any one of the separate productions that constitute a serial.

Origin of episode

1670–80; < Greek epeisódion addition, episode, noun use of neuter of epeisódios coming in addition, equivalent to ep- ep- + eísod(os) entrance (eis- into + (h)odós road, way) + -ios adj. suffix

Synonyms for episode

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com

1. happening. See event.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for episode

chapter, installment, matter, experience, thing, incident, event, affair, occurrence, business, circumstance, section, passage, doings, part, occasion, interlude, happening, goings-on

Examples from the Web for episode

Contemporary Examples of episode

In the first episode, an officer is shown video of himself shooting and killing a man.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops
Melissa Leon
January 9, 2015
Hopefully not overly close, but we talk about it in the episode how similar it is.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS
Marlow Stern
January 8, 2015
It was a very faithful homage to a Six Million Dollar Man episode.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS
Marlow Stern
January 8, 2015
I watch every episode alone on my couch and I just sit there and laugh, and laugh.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015
In “Steal This Episode,” the filmmaker denounces Homer Simpson as an “enemy of art.”
Here’s the Lost Judd Apatow ‘Simpsons’ Episode, Penned by Judd Apatow
Asawin Suebsaeng
January 6, 2015

Historical Examples of episode

All the same, the episode left her with a feeling of insecurity.
Life and Death of Harriett Frean
May Sinclair
The episode that had caused her suspension seemed entirely forgotten.
K
Mary Roberts Rinehart
You are never to mention this episode of the toss-up, or of my confession, to any living soul.
In the Midst of Alarms
Robert Barr
Epos, p. 65, places the fragment in the Finn episode, between ll.
Beowulf
Unknown
The episode seemed to be turning out better than he had anticipated.
The Black Bag
Louis Joseph Vance

British Dictionary definitions for episode

episode

noun

an incident, event, or series of events
any one of the sections into which a serialized novel or radio or television programme is divided
an incident, sequence, or scene that forms part of a narrative but may be a digression from the main story
(in ancient Greek tragedy) a section between two choric songs
music a contrasting section between statements of the subject, as in a fugue or rondo

Word Origin for episode

C17: from Greek epeisodion something added, from epi- (in addition) + eisodios coming in, from eis- in + hodos road

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for episode

1670s, "commentary between two choric songs in a Greek tragedy," also "an incidental narrative or digression within a story, poem, etc.," from French épisode or directly from Greek epeisodion "addition," noun use of neuter of epeisodios "coming in besides," from epi "in addition" (see epi-) + eisodos "a coming in, entrance" (from eis "into" + hodos "way"). Sense of "outstanding incident, experience" first recorded in English 1773. Transferred by 1930s to individual broadcasts of serial radio programs.