threnody

[ thren-uh-dee ]

/ ˈθrɛn ə di /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR threnody ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural thren·o·dies.

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

RELATED WORDS

dirge, poem, elegy, requiem

Nearby words

Origin of threnody

1615–25; < Greek thrēnōidía, equivalent to thrên(os) dirge + -ōid(ḗ) song (see ode) + -ia -y³

Related formsthre·no·di·al

[thri-noh-dee-uh l] /θrɪˈnoʊ di əl/, thre·nod·ic

[thri-nod-ik] /θrɪˈnɒd ɪk/, adjectivethren·o·dist

[thren-uh-dist] /ˈθrɛn ə dɪst/, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for threnody

Personally I reckon “Threnody” will give even Jordan 's page-turners a run for their money.
Amis vs. "Two Bags of Silicone"|Olivia Cole|November 8, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The most famous as well as the most powerful and original of Bion's poems remaining to us is the threnody upon Adonis.
Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol 4|Charles Dudley Warner
The Finale is a threnody, one of overpowering grief, the motto of which might be "vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
Music: An Art and a Language|Walter Raymond Spalding
I never hated any piece of music as I came to hate that threnody of treason.
Andersonville, Volume 3|John McElroy

But the ode, in a more or less irregular form, whether pan or threnody, has been the instrument of several of our leading lyrists.
Victorian Songs|Various
The Threnody, written after the death of a deeply loved child, is a beautiful and impressive lament.
Critical Miscellanies, Vol. 1, Essay 5, Emerson|John Morley

British Dictionary definitions for threnody

threnody

threnode (ˈθriːnəʊd, ˈθrɛn-)

/ (ˈθrɛnədɪ, ˈθriː-) /

noun plural threnodies or threnodes

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

Derived Formsthrenodial (θrɪˈnəʊdɪəl) or threnodic (θrɪˈnɒdɪk), adjectivethrenodist (ˈθrɛnədɪst, ˈθriː-), noun

Word Origin for threnody

C17: from Greek thrēnōidia, from thrēnos dirge + ōidē song

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

Word Origin and History for threnody

threnody

"song of lamentation," 1630s, from Greek threnodia, from threnos "dirge, lament" + oide "ode" (see ode). Greek threnos probably is from a PIE imitative root meaning "to murmur, hum;" cf. Old English dran "drone," Gothic drunjus "sound," Greek tenthrene "a kind of wasp."