threnody

[ thren-uh-dee ]

noun

, plural thren·o·dies.

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

threnody

/ θrɪˈnəʊdɪəl; ˈθrɛnədɪst; ˈθrɛn-; ˈθriː-; θrɪˈnɒdɪk; ˈθriː-; ˈθriːnəʊd; ˈθrɛnədɪ /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• threnodist, noun
• threnodial, adjective

Other Words From

• thre·no·di·al [thri-, noh, -dee-, uh, l], thre·nod·ic [thri-, nod, -ik], adjective
• thren·o·dist [thren, -, uh, -dist], noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of threnody¹

1615–25; < Greek thrēnōidía, equivalent to thrên ( os ) dirge + -ōid ( ḗ ) song ( ode ) + -ia -y ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of threnody¹

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

Example Sentences

On “From Ukraine, For Ukraine,” a darkly brilliant new omnibus album by the cutting-edge Kyiv label Standard Deviation, grief and rage melt into impudently beautiful contemporary threnodies.

From New York Times

When you’re expecting extinction, it makes sense to record the threnody in advance.

From New York Times

Of course, “the unspeakable horror of the literary life” — to borrow Mr. Earbrass’s phrase from Edward Gorey’s “The Unstrung Harp” — is a familiar threnody in the writing biz.

From Washington Post

Mr. Greenwood’s own score for the movie “There Will Be Blood,” for example, features his “Popcorn Superhet Receiver,” a work directly inspired by the Hiroshima threnody.

From New York Times

By fusing gay rage and sorrow with familiar musical gestures—Straussian orchestral explosions, Samuel Barber-like threnodies for strings—it ennobled a portion of the population for which many orchestra subscribers might have felt disgust.

From The New Yorker