(1572–1637), English playwright and poet; full name Benjamin Jonson. With his play Every Man in his Humour (1598) he established his ‘comedy of humours’, whereby each character is dominated by a particular obsession. He became the first Poet Laureate in the modern sense. Other notable works: Volpone (1606) and Bartholomew Fair (1614).
Definition of Jonson, Ben in US English:
Jonson, Ben
proper nounˈjänsən
(1572–1637), British playwright and poet; full name Benjamin Jonson. With his play Every Man in His Humour (1598), he established his “comedy of humors,” whereby each character is dominated by a particular obsession. Other notable works: Volpone (1606) and Bartholomew Fair (1614).