fugue
fugue Lexical Profile
fugue Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A contrapuntal musical composition in which a short melodic theme is introduced by one voice or part and successively taken up, developed, and interwoven by others.
"The organist concluded the recital with a complex fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach."
A rare dissociative psychiatric state in which a person temporarily loses awareness of their personal identity and memories, often wandering away from home or adopting a new identity.
"After the traumatic accident, the patient entered a dissociative fugue and was found in another city two days later."
• Rhymes for fugue
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from French fugue, from Italian fuga, and ultimately from Latin fuga ('flight' or 'fleeing'), reflecting how the musical voices seem to chase and flee from one another.