swan song

noun

: a song of great sweetness said to be sung by a dying swan

: a farewell appearance or final act or pronouncement

Did you know?

Swans don't sing. They whistle or trumpet, or in the case of the swan most common in ponds, the mute swan, they only hiss and snort. But according to ancient legend, the swan does sing one beautiful song in its life-just before it dies. References in English to the dying swan's lovely singing go back as far as Chaucer, but the term swan song itself didn't appear in the language until the 1830s, when Thomas Carlyle used it in Sartor Resartus. Carlyle probably based his "swan song" on the German version of the term, which is Schwanengesang or Schwanenlied.

Examples of swan song in a Sentence

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As film scenes in other U.S. states and Canada benefited from decline in Southern California, the swan song of peak television experienced an ongoing decrease in new series getting greenlit and an uptick in single-season cancellations. —

Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 12 Dec. 2024 This Friday at 10/9c, CBS‘ Blue Bloods will report for duty one last time — and TVLine has an exclusive look at a behind-the-scene video which also offers a glimpse at some moments from the family drama’s swan song. —

Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 10 Dec. 2024 If this was Diana Taurasi's last game, her swan song was true to herself Can Jalen Milroe be the next Jalen Hurts? —

New York Times, 26 Sep. 2024 Also keep in mind that the season premiere dates for The Conners‘ fun-sized swan song and The Cleaning Lady Season 4 are still TBD. —

Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 29 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for swan song