Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Nearby Entries
fugue - 7 dictionary results

fugue

  [fyoog]
Use fugue in a Sentence
–noun
1. Music. a polyphonic composition based upon one, two, or more themes, which are enunciated by several voices or parts in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment, and gradually built up into a complex form having somewhat distinct divisions or stages of development and a marked climax at the end.
2. Psychiatry. a period during which a person suffers from loss of memory, often begins a new life, and, upon recovery, remembers nothing of the amnesic phase.
Origin:
1590–1600; < F < It fuga < L: flight

Related forms:
fuguelike, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To fugue
fugue   (fyōōg)   
n.  
  1. Music An imitative polyphonic composition in which a theme or themes are stated successively in all of the voices of the contrapuntal structure.
  2. Psychiatry A pathological amnesiac condition during which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them after returning to a normal state. This condition, usually resulting from severe mental stress, may persist for as long as several months.

[Italian fuga (influenced by French fugue, from Italian fuga), from Latin, flight.]
fu'gal (fyōō'gəl) adj., fu'gal·ly adv., fugue v., fugu'ist (fyōō'gĭst) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Fugue

Fugue\, n. [F., fr. It. fuga, fr. L. fuga a fleeing, flight, akin to fugere to fiee. See Fugitive.] (Mus.) A polyphonic composition, developed from a given theme or themes, according to strict contrapuntal rules. The theme is first given out by one voice or part, and then, while that pursues its way, it is repeated by another at the interval of a fifth or fourth, and so on, until all the parts have answered one by one, continuing their several melodies and interweaving them in one complex progressive whole, in which the theme is often lost and reappears.

All parts of the scheme are eternally chasing each other, like the parts of a fugue. --Jer. Taylor.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source

fugue 
1597, from It. fuga, lit. "flight," from L. fuga "act of fleeing," from fugere "to flee" (see fugitive). Current spelling is from influence of Fr. version of the It. word. Defined in Elson's Music Dictionary as "a composition in strict style, in which one subject is proposed by one part and answered by other parts, according to certain rules."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Main Entry: fugue
Pronunciation: 'fyüg
Function: noun
: a disturbed state of consciousness in which the one affected seems to perform acts in fullawareness but upon recovery cannot recollect them
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

fugue (fy&oomacr;g)
n.
A pathological amnesiac condition that may persist for several months and usually results from severe mental stress, in which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them after returning to a normal state.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source

Fugue language, music
A music language implemented in Xlisp.
["Fugue: A Functional Language for Sound Synthesis", R.B. Dannenberg et al, Computer 24(7):36-41 (Jul 1991)].
(1994-12-01)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Search another word or see fugue on Thesaurus | Reference