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dirge - 4 dictionary results

dirge

  [durj]
Use dirge in a Sentence
–noun
1. a funeral song or tune, or one expressing mourning in commemoration of the dead.
2. any composition resembling such a song or tune in character, as a poem of lament for the dead or solemn, mournful music: Tennyson's dirge for the Duke of Wellington.
3. a mournful sound resembling a dirge: The autumn wind sang the dirge of summer.
4. Ecclesiastical. the office of the dead, or the funeral service as sung.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME dir(i)ge < L: direct, syncopated var. of dīrige (impv. of dīrigere), first word of the antiphon sung in the Latin office of the dead (Psalm V, 8)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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dirge   (dûrj)   
n.  
  1. Music
    1. A funeral hymn or lament.
    2. A slow, mournful musical composition.
  2. A mournful or elegiac poem or other literary work.
  3. Roman Catholic Church The Office of the Dead.

[Middle English, an antiphon at Matins in the Office of the Dead, from Medieval Latin dīrige Domine, direct, O Lord (the opening words of the antiphon), imperative of dīrigere, to direct; see direct.]
dirge'ful adj.
Word History: The history of the word dirge illustrates how a word with neutral connotations, such as direct, can become emotionally charged because of a specialized use. The Latin word dīrige is a form of the verb dīrigere, "to direct, guide," that is used in uttering commands. In the Office of the Dead dīrige is the first word in the opening of the antiphon for the first nocturn of Matins: "Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam," "Direct, O Lord, my God, my way in thy sight." The part of the Office of the Dead that begins with this antiphon was named Dīrige in Ecclesiastical Latin. This word with this meaning was borrowed into English as dirige, first recorded in a work possibly written before 1200. Dirige was then extended to refer to the chanting or reading of the Office of the Dead as part of a funeral or memorial service. In Middle English the word was shortened to dirge, although it was pronounced as two syllables. After the Middle Ages the word took on its more general senses of "a funeral hymn or lament" and "a mournful poem or musical composition," and developed its one-syllable pronunciation.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dirge

Dirge\, n. [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.] A piece of music of a mournful character, to accompany funeral rites; a funeral hymn.

The raven croaked, and hollow shrieks of owls Sung dirges at her funeral. --Ford.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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dirge 
c.1225, from L. dirige "direct!" imperative of dirigere "to direct," probably from antiphon Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam, "Direct, O Lord, my God, my way in thy sight," from Psalm v:9, which opened the Matins service in the Office of the Dead. Transferred sense of "any funeral song" is from 1500.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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