fugue

[ fyoog ]
/ fyug /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR fugue ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Music. a polyphonic composition based upon one, two, or more themes, which are enunciated by several voices or parts in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment, and gradually built up into a complex form having somewhat distinct divisions or stages of development and a marked climax at the end.
Psychiatry. a period during which a person suffers from loss of memory, often begins a new life, and, upon recovery, remembers nothing of the amnesic phase.

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Origin of fugue

1590–1600; <French <Italian fuga<Latin: flight

OTHER WORDS FROM fugue

fuguelike, adjective

Words nearby fugue

fugitometer, fugle, fugleman, fugly, fugu, fugue, fuguist, Führer, Führer, der, Fu-hsi, Fujayrah
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to fugue

exodus, inattention, stupor, blackout, powder, lam, escapement, beat, spring, getaway, break, breakout, exit, slip, escape, retreat, out, retreating, nirvana, abstraction

Example sentences from the Web for fugue

British Dictionary definitions for fugue

fugue
/ (fjuːɡ) /

noun

a musical form consisting essentially of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below the continuing first statement
psychiatry a dreamlike altered state of consciousness, lasting from a few hours to several days, during which a person loses his or her memory for his or her previous life and often wanders away from home

Derived forms of fugue

fuguelike, adjective

Word Origin for fugue

C16: from French, from Italian fuga, from Latin: a running away, flight
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for fugue

fugue
[ fyōōg ]

n.

A pathological amnesiac condition that may persist for several months and usually results from severe mental stress, in which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them after returning to a normal state.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.