threnody

American  

[thren-uh-dee] / ˈθrɛn ə di /

noun

plural

threnodies

1. a poem, speech, or song of lamentation, especially for the dead; dirge; funeral song.

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threnody British  

/ θrɪˈnəʊdɪəl, ˈθrɛnədɪst, ˈθrɛn-, ˈθriː-, θrɪˈnɒdɪk, ˈθriː-, ˈθriːnəʊd, ˈθrɛnədɪ /

noun

1. an ode, song, or speech of lamentation, esp for the dead

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Other Word Forms

• threnodial adjective
• threnodic adjective
• threnodist noun

Etymology

Origin of threnody

1615–25; < Greek thrēnōidía, equivalent to thrên ( os ) dirge + -ōid ( ḗ ) song ( ode ) + -ia -y ³

Example Sentences

On “From Ukraine, For Ukraine,” a darkly brilliant new omnibus album by the cutting-edge Kyiv label Standard Deviation, grief and rage melt into impudently beautiful contemporary threnodies.

From New York Times

When you’re expecting extinction, it makes sense to record the threnody in advance.

From New York Times

Of course, “the unspeakable horror of the literary life” — to borrow Mr. Earbrass’s phrase from Edward Gorey’s “The Unstrung Harp” — is a familiar threnody in the writing biz.

From Washington Post

The threnody, in particular, is a much-studied example of startling emotional effects created from abstract concepts.

From New York Times

By fusing gay rage and sorrow with familiar musical gestures—Straussian orchestral explosions, Samuel Barber-like threnodies for strings—it ennobled a portion of the population for which many orchestra subscribers might have felt disgust.

From The New Yorker