Word of the day · 11 September 2026
threnody
/ˈθrɛnədi/
noun
A song, poem or speech of mourning; a lament.
In a sentence
- The orchestra closed with a threnody written after the flood.
- Her essay is less a report than a threnody for a vanished neighborhood.
- Anniversary speeches can slip into threnody when names are read aloud.
Origin
From Greek thrēnōidia, from thrēnos (dirge, wailing) and ōidē (song).
History
Classical writers used threnody for funeral songs. Later composers and poets kept the term for works that mourn a person, a city or a public disaster. It is rarer than “lament,” which makes it useful when you want the ceremonial weight without soft padding.
Nearby words
lament · elegy · dirge
A formal word for grief given shape in music or language.