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
Tim Lammers, Forbes.com, 15 May 2026
Does a swan song retirement tour in Cleveland beckon?
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 12 May 2026
That year, the Suns won under the last year of the previous lottery odds, just like the Wizards won in the swan song for this version.
—Mike Vorkunov, New York Times, 11 May 2026
His swan song was often off-key.
—Andrew Knoll, Daily News, 26 Apr. 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 21 May. 2026.
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