An
opera, only
funny; the "opera comique" came into being along with a variety of other operatic genres as the art form spread from
Italy into the rest of
Europe. Not to be confused with the
operetta, which is
also funny but is much shorter than a full-on comic opera.
Many composers including Verdi and Mozart wrote comic operas, but one most commonly hears the term these days in association with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.