monody
Americannoun
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a Greek ode sung by a single voice, as in a tragedy; lament.
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a poem in which the poet or speaker laments another's death; threnody.
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Music.
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a style of composition in which one part or melody predominates; homophony, as distinguished from polyphony.
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a piece in this style.
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noun
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(in Greek tragedy) an ode sung by a single actor
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any poem of lament for someone's death
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music a style of composition consisting of a single vocal part, usually with accompaniment
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of monody
First recorded in 1580–90; from Late Latin monōdia, from Greek monōidía “a solo, monody,” equivalent to monōid(ós) “singing alone” + -ia noun suffix; see mon-, ode) -y 3
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“The Wishing Tree,” a beautiful, seemingly slight nine-line monody, commemorates his laconic, generous mother—“I thought of her as the wishing tree that died / And saw it lifted, root and branch, to heaven.”
From The New Yorker • Oct. 3, 2019
Suddenly, a hidden 35-piece baroque orchestra begins the accompaniment to the introductory monody, and a spotlight picks out a bearded Father Time at the door of a pyramid above the abyss.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sea, sea, Laugh on in glee; How dear to the sailor thy sweet monody!
From Rowena & Harold A Romance in Rhyme of an Olden Time, of Hastyngs and Normanhurst by Pryer, William Stephen
Heads were downcast, hearts beat wildly, ears drank in the mournful monody of the scene, and lo! the strong man lifted up his voice and wept aloud.
From Tom Clark and His Wife Their Double Dreams, And the Curious Things that Befell Them Therein; Being the Rosicrucian's Story by Randolph, Paschal Beverly
That sombre monody outside was like the tremor and boom of the drums funebre.
From The Sea and the Jungle by Tomlinson, H. M. (Henry Major)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
