pantomime: [17] In ancient Rome, a pantomīmus was a ‘mime artist’, a sort of Marcel Marceau performer who acted scenes, incidents, etc without words. The term was adopted from Greek pantómōmos ‘complete imitator’, a compound formed from panto- ‘all’ and mōmos ‘imitator, actor’ (source of English mime). English originally took the word over in this historical sense, and it was not until the early 18th century that it began to be used first for a sort of mime ballet and then for a play without words, relating a popular tale, which gradually developed into the Christmas fairy-tale pantomimes of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The abbreviation panto dates from the mid-19th century. => mime
1610s, "mime actor," from Latin pantomimus "mime, dancer," from Greek pantomimos "actor," literally "imitator of all," from panto- (genitive of pan) "all" (see pan-) + mimos "imitator" (see mime (n.)).
Meaning "drama or play without words" first recorded 1735. The English dramatic performances so called, usually at Christmas and with words and songs and stock characters, are attested by this name from 1739; said to have originated c. 1717. Related: Pantomimic; pantomimical.
