See swan song in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for swan song meaning in English (7.4kB)
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*swenh₂-",
"4": "*sengʷʰ-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "de",
"3": "Schwanenlied"
},
"expansion": "Calque of German Schwanenlied",
"name": "calque"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Schwan"
},
"expansion": "Schwan",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Lied"
},
"expansion": "Lied",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Schwanengesang"
},
"expansion": "Schwanengesang",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Calque of German Schwanenlied(from Schwan + Lied) or Schwanengesang; from the belief that the mute swan sings before dying.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "swan songs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "swan song (plural swan songs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"parents": [
"Terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Hebrew terms with redundant script codes",
"parents": [
"Terms with redundant script codes",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
"parents": [
"Terms with redundant script codes",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "lifeform",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Swans",
"orig": "en:Swans",
"parents": [
"Anatids",
"Freshwater birds",
"Birds",
"Vertebrates",
"Chordates",
"Animals",
"Lifeforms",
"All topics",
"Life",
"Fundamental",
"Nature"
],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1916, Albert Bigelow Paine, The Boys' Life of Mark Twain",
"text": "\"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court\"[…]—a pretentious volume which Mark Twain really considered his last. \"It's my swan-song, my retirement from literature permanently,\" he wrote Howells, though certainly he was young, fifty-four, to have reached this conclusion.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 November 9, Gwen Ihnat, “With McCartney III, Paul McCartney offers lessons from a legendary life”, in The A.V. Club",
"text": "[…]McCartney III could mark the end of his recording career. For a musician as continually prolific as McCartney (this is his 18th solo record), that seems unlikely. But if it is indeed a swan song, McCartney III will stand as a proper coda for the singer-songwriter we’ve been listening to for fifty-odd years: sentimental yet strong, a bit wistful, but as always, looking ahead.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021 July 22, Philip Oltermann, “Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser”, in The Guardian",
"text": "Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser [title]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2022 October 22, Wendy Ide, quoting Steven Spielberg, “‘It’s a way to bring my mum and dad back’: Steven Spielberg on the new wave of cine-memoirs”, in The Guardian",
"text": "[S]pielberg was keen to stress that The Fabelmans is not a full stop: “It is not because I decided to retire, and this is my swan song, don’t believe that.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement."
],
"id": "en-swan_song-en-noun-BHWSKm7z",
"links": [
[
"final",
"final"
],
[
"performance",
"performance"
],
[
"accomplishment",
"accomplishment"
],
[
"retirement",
"retirement"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "farewell performance"
},
{
"word": "last hurrah"
},
{
"word": "swansong"
},
{
"word": "swan-song"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "lebedova pesen",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "лебедова песен"
},
{
"code": "zh",
"lang": "Chinese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "絕唱"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "labutí píseň"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "svanesang"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "zwanenzang"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "cignokanto"
},
{
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "luigelaul"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "joutsenlaulu"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "chant du cygne"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Schwanengesang"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "kýkneio ásma",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "κύκνειο άσμα"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "שירת הברבור"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "hattyúdal"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "svanasöngur"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "canto del cigno"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "zesshou",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "絶唱"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"roman": "jeolchang",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "절창"
},
{
"code": "se",
"lang": "Northern Sami",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "svanesång"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "svanesang"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "svanesong"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "łabędzi śpiew"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "canto do cisne"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "canto de cisne"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "canção do cisne"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "canção de cisne"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "cântecul lebedei"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "lebedínaja pésnja",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "лебеди́ная пе́сня"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "svanesång"
}
],
"wikipedia": [
"swan song"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-swan song.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-swan_song.ogg/En-au-swan_song.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-swan_song.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"word": "swan song"
}
{
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ine-pro",
"3": "*swenh₂-",
"4": "*sengʷʰ-"
},
"expansion": "",
"name": "root"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "de",
"3": "Schwanenlied"
},
"expansion": "Calque of German Schwanenlied",
"name": "calque"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Schwan"
},
"expansion": "Schwan",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Lied"
},
"expansion": "Lied",
"name": "m"
},
{
"args": {
"1": "de",
"2": "Schwanengesang"
},
"expansion": "Schwanengesang",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Calque of German Schwanenlied(from Schwan + Lied) or Schwanengesang; from the belief that the mute swan sings before dying.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "swan songs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "swan song (plural swan songs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English idioms",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English terms calqued from German",
"English terms derived from German",
"English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
"English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sengʷʰ-",
"English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *swenh₂-",
"English terms with audio links",
"English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys",
"English terms with quotations",
"Hebrew terms with redundant script codes",
"Japanese terms with redundant script codes",
"en:Swans"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1916, Albert Bigelow Paine, The Boys' Life of Mark Twain",
"text": "\"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court\"[…]—a pretentious volume which Mark Twain really considered his last. \"It's my swan-song, my retirement from literature permanently,\" he wrote Howells, though certainly he was young, fifty-four, to have reached this conclusion.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 November 9, Gwen Ihnat, “With McCartney III, Paul McCartney offers lessons from a legendary life”, in The A.V. Club",
"text": "[…]McCartney III could mark the end of his recording career. For a musician as continually prolific as McCartney (this is his 18th solo record), that seems unlikely. But if it is indeed a swan song, McCartney III will stand as a proper coda for the singer-songwriter we’ve been listening to for fifty-odd years: sentimental yet strong, a bit wistful, but as always, looking ahead.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2021 July 22, Philip Oltermann, “Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser”, in The Guardian",
"text": "Merkel’s political and scientific sides slug it out in swan song presser [title]",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2022 October 22, Wendy Ide, quoting Steven Spielberg, “‘It’s a way to bring my mum and dad back’: Steven Spielberg on the new wave of cine-memoirs”, in The Guardian",
"text": "[S]pielberg was keen to stress that The Fabelmans is not a full stop: “It is not because I decided to retire, and this is my swan song, don’t believe that.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement."
],
"links": [
[
"final",
"final"
],
[
"performance",
"performance"
],
[
"accomplishment",
"accomplishment"
],
[
"retirement",
"retirement"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic) A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic"
],
"wikipedia": [
"swan song"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "en-au-swan song.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/13/En-au-swan_song.ogg/En-au-swan_song.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/En-au-swan_song.ogg",
"tags": [
"Australia"
],
"text": "Audio (AU)"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "farewell performance"
},
{
"word": "last hurrah"
},
{
"word": "swansong"
},
{
"word": "swan-song"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "lebedova pesen",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "лебедова песен"
},
{
"code": "zh",
"lang": "Chinese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "絕唱"
},
{
"code": "cs",
"lang": "Czech",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "labutí píseň"
},
{
"code": "da",
"lang": "Danish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "svanesang"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "zwanenzang"
},
{
"code": "eo",
"lang": "Esperanto",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "cignokanto"
},
{
"code": "et",
"lang": "Estonian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "luigelaul"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "joutsenlaulu"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "chant du cygne"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Schwanengesang"
},
{
"code": "el",
"lang": "Greek",
"roman": "kýkneio ásma",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "κύκνειο άσμα"
},
{
"code": "he",
"lang": "Hebrew",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "שירת הברבור"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "hattyúdal"
},
{
"code": "is",
"lang": "Icelandic",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "svanasöngur"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "canto del cigno"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "zesshou",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "絶唱"
},
{
"code": "ko",
"lang": "Korean",
"roman": "jeolchang",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "절창"
},
{
"code": "se",
"lang": "Northern Sami",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "svanesång"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "svanesang"
},
{
"code": "nn",
"lang": "Norwegian Nynorsk",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "svanesong"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"word": "łabędzi śpiew"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "canto do cisne"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "canto de cisne"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "canção do cisne"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "canção de cisne"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "cântecul lebedei"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "lebedínaja pésnja",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "лебеди́ная пе́сня"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "a final performance",
"tags": [
"common-gender"
],
"word": "svanesång"
}
],
"word": "swan song"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.