English Meaning & Definitions
The final performance, activity, or appearance of a person's career or lifespan.
- “The aging rock star announced that this massive global tour would be his swan song.”
- “The company's groundbreaking smartphone design proved to be its commercial swan song before bankruptcy.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “swan song”.
Derived from the ancient classical belief that the mute swan, which is typically silent throughout its life, sings a beautiful and mournful song just before it dies. This ancient myth was recorded by various writers including Aeschylus, Plato, and Ovid, eventually passing into proverbial usage in English by the late 18th century to signify any final performance or act.
Picture a majestic swan giving one final, beautiful musical performance right before it flies away forever.
Frequently Asked Questions About “swan song”
1. What is the meaning of “swan song” in English?
In English, swan song (noun) is defined as: “The final performance, activity, or appearance of a person's career or lifespan.”.
2. How do you use “swan song” in a sentence?
“The aging rock star announced that this massive global tour would be his swan song.”
3. What are English synonyms of “swan song”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “swan song”?
Derived from the ancient classical belief that the mute swan, which is typically silent throughout its life, sings a beautiful and mournful song just before it dies. This ancient myth was recorded by various writers including Aeschylus, Plato, and Ovid, eventually passing into proverbial usage in English by the late 18th century to signify any final performance or act.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →A measurement of time indicating an instantaneous occurrence or a state where no time has elapsed.
The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.