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monody

noun

  1. In poetry, poem in which one person laments another's death. In music, a solo vocal style distinguished by having a single melodic line and instrumental accompaniment.
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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈmɒnədi/ / /ˈmɑnədi/

noun

Etymology: From Latin monodia, from Ancient Greek μονῳδία (monōidía).

  1. An ode, as in Greek drama, for a single voice, often specifically a mournful song or dirge.
  2. Any poem mourning the death of someone; an elegy.
  3. A monotonous or mournful noise.

    Stroke by stroke, the great familiar monody of that incomparable curfew rose and fell in the stillness.

  4. A composition having a single melodic line.

    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.