threnody

noun

thren·​o·​dy ˈthre-nə-dē 

plural threnodies

: a song of lamentation for the dead : elegy

Did you know?

Threnody encompasses all genres. There are great threnodies in prose (such as the lines from Charles Dickens’ Bleak House upon the death of Little Jo: "Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen. Dead…."), in poetry (as in W. H. Auden’s "Funeral Blues": "The stars are not wanted now: put out every one, / Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun…."), and in music (Giovanni Pergolesi’s "Stabat Mater," for one). Threnody, which we borrowed from the Greek word thrēnōidia (from thrēnos, the word for "dirge"), has survived in English since the early 1600s. Melody, tragedy, and comedy are related to threnody through the Greek root that forms their ending-aeidein, which means "to sing."

Synonyms

• dirge
• elegy
• lament
• requiem

Examples of threnody in a Sentence

the composer's cello concerto was composed as a moving threnody for his late wife

Recent Examples on the Web

His diary shrank to a litany of suffering and a threnody for what might have been. —Sara Wheeler, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2018

Most critics acknowledged the score’s beautiful moments, especially Cleopatra’s death scene, in which the character’s plaintive lyrical lines are capped by a chilling choral threnody. —Anthony Tommasini, New York Times, 22 Dec. 2017

Needless to say, Murray’s threnody for Europe is as fundamentally incoherent as its late-19th-century originals. —Pankaj Mishra, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2017

Threnody in X (FTF), Soda Pop (FTF), Corn Hives (FTF), Facts (FTF), —Sophie Brown, WIRED, 9 Aug. 2011

Word History

Etymology

Greek thrēnōidia, from thrēnos dirge + aeidein to sing — more at drone, ode

First Known Use

1634, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

threnody

noun

thren·​o·​dy ˈthren-əd-ē 

plural threnodies

: a song of mourning or sorrow