"song of lamentation," 1630s, from Greek thrēnōdia "lamentation," from thrēnos "dirge, lament" + ōidē "ode" (see ode). Greek thrēnos probably is from PIE imitative root *dher- (3) "to drone, murmur, hum;" source also of Old English dran "drone," Gothic drunjus "sound," Greek tenthrene "a kind of wasp."