monody means an ode, as in Greek drama, for a single voice, often specifically a mournful song or dirge. It carries an Arena rating of 1618, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, monody ranks #691 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,153 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,194 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #2,676 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
monody is pronounced /ˈmɒnədi/.
Why “monody” is a great word
A poem or song for a single voice, particularly one expressing lamentation for the dead. It descends from the Greek μονῳδία (monōidía), a compound of μόνος (mónos, "single, alone") and ᾠδή (ōidḗ, "song, ode"). Unlike an "elegy," which primarily denotes a formal poem of reflective sorrow, or "homophony," which in music describes a textured melody with chordal support, a monody is defined by its stark, solo delivery—a single melodic line given to lament. It is the lone singer's voice threading through the quiet of a chapel, the unaccompanied recitative that makes grief intimate, and the solitary note held against a silent house, reminding us that mourning, in its purest form, is a singular art built from sound.
Etymology
From Latin monodia, from Ancient Greek μονῳδία (monōidía).
noun
- An ode, as in Greek drama, for a single voice, often specifically a mournful song or dirge.
- Any poem mourning the death of someone; an elegy.
- A monotonous or mournful noise.e.g.“Stroke by stroke, the great familiar monody of that incomparable curfew rose and fell in the stillness.” — 1911, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson:
- A composition having a single melodic line.e.g.“All directions in life were blocked to him. He could not think, he could not sleep, his heart thudded to a deadening monody of fear. Fear that is itself the penalty of all things feared.” — 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 203:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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