Dictionary

fugue en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈfjuːɡ/
• /ˈfyɡ/ (Multicultural-London-English)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from French fugue, from Italian fuga (“flight, ardor”), from Latin fuga (“act of fleeing”), from fugiō (“to flee”); compare Ancient Greek φυγή (phugḗ). Apparently from the metaphor that the first part starts alone on its course, and is pursued by later parts. Doublet of fuga.

Meanings

1. A contrapuntal piece of music wherein a particular melody is played in a number of voices, each voice introduced in turn by playing the melody.
2. Anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or in its elaborate complexity and formality.
   • Jacobsen's theory about the empty storehouse is still valid, for a myth never has one meaning only; a myth is a polyphonic fugue of many voices. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 175:
3. A fugue state.

Forms

Deriveds

double fugue · mirror fugue · counterfugue · fuguist · fuguelike · fugal

Relateds

fugacious · fugue state

Synonyms

fuga

Translations (49)

vi tẩu pháp (piece of music) · ko 푸가 (piece of music) · cs fuga (piece of music) · lt fuga (piece of music) · is fúga (piece of music) · ru фу́га (anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or complexity) · da fuga (piece of music) · el φυγή (piece of music) · ar فُوغَا (piece of music) · pl fuga (anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or complexity) · eo fugo (piece of music) · fa فوگ (piece of music) · fur fughe (piece of music) · pl fuga (piece of music) · oc fuga (piece of music) · mk фуга (piece of music) · tr füg (piece of music) · ja 遁走曲 (piece of music) · et fuuga (piece of music) · ja フーガ (piece of music) · ar فُوغَا (piece of music) · az fuqa (piece of music) · es fuga (piece of music) · it fuga (piece of music) · de Fuge (piece of music) · el φούγκα (piece of music) · fi fuuga (piece of music) · la contrāpunctus (piece of music) · ro fugă (piece of music) · be фуга (piece of music) · he פוּגָה (piece of music) · de Fuge (anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or complexity) · el φυγή (anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or complexity) · sl fuga (piece of music) · pt fuga (piece of music) · fr fugue (piece of music) · cmn 賦格 /赋格 (piece of music) · ca fuga (piece of music) · ka ფუგა (piece of music) · ru фу́га (piece of music) · sv fuga (piece of music) · hy ֆուգա (piece of music) · sl fuga (anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or complexity) · hu fúga (piece of music) · nl fuga (piece of music) · sk fúga (piece of music) · bg фуга (piece of music) · uz fuga (piece of music) · io fugo (piece of music)

fugue en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈfjuːɡ/
• /ˈfyɡ/ (Multicultural-London-English)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Borrowed from French fugue, from Italian fuga (“flight, ardor”), from Latin fuga (“act of fleeing”), from fugiō (“to flee”); compare Ancient Greek φυγή (phugḗ). Apparently from the metaphor that the first part starts alone on its course, and is pursued by later parts. Doublet of fuga.

Meanings

1. To improvise, in singing, by introducing vocal ornamentation to fill gaps etc.
2. (intransitive) To spend time in a dissociative fugue state.
   • Fugue states can have phases—it's possible she fugued from the start, and only woke to what was happening on that bus. 2021, Robin Wasserman, Mother Daughter Widow Wife, page 87:
   • And most of them women, and these only stayed in a fugue state for a relatively short time, like a couple of hours or a couple of days. As far as we know Malenov fugued for close to twenty years. 2014, Richard D. Dalrymple, Fugue, page 33:

Forms