I. ˈrapsədē, -di noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin rhapsodia, from Greek rhapsōidia, from rhapsōidos rhapsodist (from rhaptein to sew, stitch together + ōidē ode, song) + -ia -y; akin to Greek rhepein to bend, incline, rhapis rod, Old Norse orf, orb handle of a scythe, Old High German worf handle of a scythe, Lithuanian verpti to spin, and probably to Latin repens sudden — more at ode
1. : a recitation or song of a rhapsodist : a portion of an epic poem (as a book of the Iliad or Odyssey ) adapted for recitation
2. archaic : a literary work consisting of disconnected pieces ; also : a miscellaneous collection or disconnected series : medley , jumble
a rhapsody of words — Shakespeare
3.
a. : an ecstatic or highly emotional utterance or literary work : effusively incoherent and extravagant discourse
a speech that bordered upon rhapsody
recite a long rhapsody to the joys of viewing America from a caboose — R.P.Cooke
the novel ends in a kind of meditative rhapsody — Mark Schorer
b. : rapture , ecstasy
reading poetry often seems a state of rhapsody in which rhyme and meter and sound stir the mind as wine and dance stir the body — Virginia Woolf
4. : an instrumental composition that is irregular in form like an improvisation or free fantasia
Synonyms: see bombast
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
: rhapsodize