thanatopsis

[ than-uh-top-sis ]

/ ˌθæn əˈtɒp sɪs /

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noun

a view or contemplation of death.

(initial capital letter, italics) a poem (1817) by William Cullen Bryant.

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Origin of thanatopsis

thanat(o)- + -opsis

Words nearby thanatopsis

thana, thanage, thanato-, thanatology, thanatophobia, thanatopsis, Thanatos, thane, thaneship, Thanet, thang

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use thanatopsis in a sentence

"Thanatopsis" was the hymn of his meditations among those solitary woods.
From the Easy Chair, series 2|George William Curtis
Between this date and that of the publication of "Thanatopsis" there sweeps an arch of forty-eight years.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 76, February, 1864|Various
Of the poems of this class, "Thanatopsis," of which we have already spoken, is one of the best known.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 76, February, 1864|Various
Who ever learned "Thanatopsis" on the summit of the Catskills, and afterwards forgot a line of it?
The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 4, November 1, 1851|Various

The son postpones his expression and leans against a jungle to a fourth encore of the tuneful Thanatopsis.
Just Around the Corner|Fannie Hurst

British Dictionary definitions for thanatopsis

thanatopsis

/ (ˌθænəˈtɒpsɪs) /

noun

a meditation on death, as in a poem

Word Origin for thanatopsis

C19: from Greek thanatos death + opsis a view

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