swan song
noun
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Swans don't sing. They whistle or trumpet, or in the case of the swan most common in ponds, the mute swan, they only hiss and snort. But according to ancient legend, the swan does sing one beautiful song in its life-just before it dies. References in English to the dying swan's lovely singing go back as far as Chaucer, but the term swan song itself didn't appear in the language until the 1830s, when Thomas Carlyle used it in Sartor Resartus. Carlyle probably based his "swan song" on the German version of the term, which is Schwanengesang or Schwanenlied.
Examples of swan song in a Sentence
Kevin Giraud, Variety, 18 Feb. 2026
Italian veterans retire with new medals There are also poignant swan songs underway in Italy as some of the country's Olympic veterans have chosen to end their careers on home snow and ice.
—Brian Mann, NPR, 16 Feb. 2026
Now the 34-year-old cross country skiing superstar is preparing for her swan song at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina.
—Dane Mizutani, Twin Cities, 6 Feb. 2026
But this type of vacation will indeed be his last, because after two seasons of The Amazing Race, and now two seasons of Survivor, Mike told Entertainment Weekly in Fiji that season 50 will mark his reality TV swan song.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Swan song.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swan%20song. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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