swan song

American  

noun

1. the last act or manifestation of someone or something; farewell appearance.

   This building turned out to be the swan song of Victorian architecture.

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swan song British  

noun

1. the last act, appearance, publication, or utterance of a person before retirement or death

2. the song that a dying swan is said to sing

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swan song Idioms  

1. A final accomplishment or performance, one's last work. For example, I'm resigning tomorrow; this project was my swan song. This term alludes to the old belief that swans normally are mute but burst into beautiful song moments before they die. Although the idea is much older, the term was first recorded in English only in 1890.

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Etymology

Origin of swan song

First recorded in 1825–35; so called from the belief that the dying swan sings

Example Sentences

Swan song: The iTunes Music store revolutionized how the world consumed music when it debuted 16 years ago, but since then other services such as Netflix and Spotify have upended media in their own ways.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2019

Swan song or no, "Swan Lake" could have characterized the show: Balletic-high waistlines topped a new, longer-length skirt with knife-edged pleats and a more structured silhouette.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 3, 2012

Great Swan became a weather station in 1914, but it was 1960 before the real Swan song began.

From Time Magazine Archive

What does the moaning monotony of a Korean love-song mean to the westerner, or what does the Swan song mean to the Korean?

From Germany and the Germans From an American Point of View by Collier, Price

Related Words

• farewell