Word of the day: threnody

The word of the day is threnody:

1. a poem, speech, or song of lamentation, especially for the dead; dirge; funeral song.

"song of lamentation," 1634, from Gk. threnodia, from threnos "dirge, lament," + oide "ode." Gk. threnos probably is from a PIE imitative base meaning "to murmur, hum;" cf. O.E. dran "drone," Goth. drunjus "sound," Gk. tenthrene "a kind of wasp."

(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/threnodies)

"The regime was so brutal that it should have generated constant shirking, sabotage, and strife—and, indeed, slaveholder records are endless threnodies of complaint and fear."

 - Charles Mann, 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created