/rap"seuh dee/ , n. , pl. rhapsodies .
1. Music. an instrumental composition irregular in form and suggestive of improvisation.
2. an ecstatic expression of feeling or enthusiasm.
3. an epic poem, or a part of such a poem, as a book of the Iliad, suitable for recitation at one time.
4. a similar piece of modern literature.
5. an unusually intense or irregular poem or piece of prose.
6. Archaic. a miscellaneous collection; jumble.
[ 1535-45; rhapsodia rhapsoidía recital of epic poetry, equiv. to rhapsoid ( ós ) RHAPSODIST + -ia -Y 3 ]