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
Jordan Blum, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
Atlanta Braves Speaking of injuries, the fragile nature of the human body really wrecked Brian Snitker’s swan song.
—Levi Weaver, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
Chiuri worked at Fendi before her tenure at Valentino and is said to be on friendly terms with Venturini Fendi, who attended Chiuri’s swan song show in May parading Dior’s cruise 2026 collection.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 29 Sep. 2025
But here the Giants were, the cacophony to Kershaw’s swan song.
—Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 20 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Swan song.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/swan%20song. Accessed 8 Oct. 2025.
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