dirge

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person

Etymology

From Middle English dirige, from Latin dirige (“steer, direct”), from the beginning of the first antiphon in matins for the dead, Dirige, Domine, deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam. Doublet of dirige.

In classic literature

Synonyms

coronach, lament, requiem, threnody

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