fugue

[ fyoog ]
/ fyug /

noun

Music. a polyphonic composition based upon one, two, or more themes, which are enunciated by several voices or parts in turn, subjected to contrapuntal treatment, and gradually built up into a complex form having somewhat distinct divisions or stages of development and a marked climax at the end.
Psychiatry. a period during which a person suffers from loss of memory, often begins a new life, and, upon recovery, remembers nothing of the amnesic phase.

Origin of fugue

1590–1600; < French < Italian fuga < Latin: flight

OTHER WORDS FROM fugue

fugue·like, adjective

Words nearby fugue

fugitometer, fugle, fugleman, fugly, fugu, fugue, fuguist, fujayrah, fuji, fujian, fujimori

British Dictionary definitions for fuguelike

fugue
/ (fjuːɡ) /

noun

a musical form consisting essentially of a theme repeated a fifth above or a fourth below the continuing first statement
psychiatry a dreamlike altered state of consciousness, lasting from a few hours to several days, during which a person loses his or her memory for his or her previous life and often wanders away from home

Derived forms of fugue

fuguelike, adjective

Word Origin for fugue

C16: from French, from Italian fuga, from Latin: a running away, flight

Medical definitions for fuguelike

fugue
[ fyōōg ]

n.

A pathological amnesiac condition that may persist for several months and usually results from severe mental stress, in which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them after returning to a normal state.