dirge
UK /dɜːdʒ/ · US /dɝd͡ʒ/ noun, verb
Forms dirges dirging dirged
- noun A mournful poem or piece of music composed or performed as a memorial to a deceased person.
- noun (informal) A song or piece of music that is considered too slow, bland or boring.
- verb To sing dirges
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [Contraction of Lat. dirige, direct thou (imperative of dirigere), the first word of a funeral hymn (Lat. transl. of Psalm v. 8) beginning, "Dirige, Domine, in conspectu tuo vitam meam." See Direct, a., and cf. Dirige.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dirge”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details