dirge
Contents
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin dirige (“steer”), from the beginning of the first antiphon in matins for the dead, Dirige, Domine, deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) enPR: dûj, IPA(key): /dɜːdʒ/
- (US) enPR: dûrj, IPA(key): /dɝdʒ/
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Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(r)dʒ
Noun[edit]
dirge (plural dirges)
- A mournful poem or piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.
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c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii], lines 8–14, page 153, column 2:
- Therefore our ſometimes Siſter, now our Queen, / Th’ imperiall Ioyntreſſe of this warlike State, / Haue we, as ’twere, with a defeated ioy, / With one Auſpicious, and one Dropping eye, / With mirth in Funerall, and with Dirge in Marriage, / In equall Scale weighing Delight and Dole / Taken to Wife […]
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- (informal) A song or piece of music that is considered too slow, bland or boring.
Synonyms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
a mournful poem or piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person.
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