What does fugue mean?
Fugue is a noun with two well-established senses rooted in the Latin fugere, meaning "to flee." In music, a fugue is a contrapuntal composition in which a short melodic theme — the subject — is stated by one voice and then taken up in imitation by the others, weaving into dense, interlocking textures. The form reached its height in the Baroque era, above all in the works of J.S. Bach, and remains a touchstone of compositional craft. In psychology, a fugue refers to a dissociative state in which a person loses their sense of identity, sometimes wandering far from home with no memory of who they are; clinicians call this dissociative fugue or a fugue state. Though unrelated in substance, both meanings evoke flight — of voices chasing each other in music, or of the mind itself. The word lends writing an air of precision and depth.
nounA fugue is a polyphonic musical composition in which a short theme, the subject, is introduced by one voice and then developed through successive imitative entries by other voices. In psychology, it also refers to a dissociative state marked by loss of awareness of one's identity, often involving unplanned travel away from home.
- Music: a contrapuntal composition built on imitative treatment of a single subject across multiple voices.
- Psychiatry: a dissociative fugue — a state of lost identity, sometimes with sudden unplanned wandering; also called fugue state.
"Bach's Art of Fugue demonstrates the form's intricate counterpoint at its most masterful."
"The recital closed with a dazzling four-voice fugue that left the audience breathless."
"After the accident, he vanished for three days in what doctors described as a dissociative fugue."
Standard pluralization applies; used for multiple compositions or instances of the dissociative state.
"Shostakovich composed a set of twenty-four preludes and fugues."
The same word describes both Bach's most rigorous art form and a psychiatric condition in which people forget who they are — and both trace back to a Latin word for fleeing.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fugue
Fugue derives from the Latin fuga, meaning "flight" or "escape," from the verb fugere, "to flee." It entered English in the late 16th or early 17th century via Italian fuga and French fugue. The musical sense reflects the idea of voices in pursuit of one another, while the psychological sense, adopted later, evokes flight from one's own identity. Cognates sharing this root include "refuge," "refugee," "fugitive," and "centrifugal."
Related word forms
How fugue is actually used
In music, "fugue" carries strong connotations of intellectual rigor and formal mastery, associated especially with Baroque composers like Bach. In psychiatry, "fugue" (often "dissociative fugue" or "fugue state") denotes a rare dissociative disorder. The two senses share no conceptual overlap beyond their common etymological root meaning "flight," but they are used in entirely separate contexts.
Easily confused with fugue
"Fugue" refers to a musical composition or dissociative state, while "few" means a small number.
A "feud" is a prolonged conflict or quarrel between parties, whereas a "fugue" is either an imitative musical piece or a dissociative psychological state.