dirge

American  

[durj] / dɜrdʒ /

noun

1. a funeral song or tune, or one expressing mourning in commemoration of the dead.

2. any composition resembling such a song or tune in character, as a poem of lament for the dead or solemn, mournful music.

   Tennyson's dirge for the Duke of Wellington.

3. a mournful sound resembling a dirge.

   The autumn wind sang the dirge of summer.

4. Ecclesiastical. the office of the dead, or the funeral service as sung.

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dirge British  

/ dɜːdʒ /

noun

1. a chant of lamentation for the dead

2. the funeral service in its solemn or sung forms

3. any mourning song or melody

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Other Word Forms

• dirgeful adjective

Etymology

Origin of dirge

1175–1225; Middle English dir ( i ) ge < Latin: direct, syncopated variant of dīrige (imperative of dīrigere ), first word of the antiphon sung in the Latin office of the dead (Psalm V, 8)

Example Sentences

But this isn’t a dirge — it’s a fight song and a taunt, and it sets the tone of comfortable, mischievous defiance that threads through the entire album.

From Salon

Austin Reaves is the Lakers’ breath of fresh air, a sharpshooting respite from all the drama and dirge, a stirring journey from undrafted to indefatigable.

From Los Angeles Times

The tone is relentless, and the score of slow and craggy strings is a dirge.

From Los Angeles Times

Al-Hijazi joined her relatives in the square, beating her chest to the rhythm of a funereal dirge, tears streaming down her cheek.

From Los Angeles Times

The score sustains single notes like a dirge as Leigh judiciously chooses which noises he’ll let barge into Pansy’s sterile life.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• elegy
• hymn