Etymology

swan song

Today it means: A final performance or accomplishment, especially one before retirement. Full definition →

German Schwanenlied
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The story

  1. German · calque ofSchwanenlied“swan song”
  2. English todayswan song

Calque of German Schwanenlied (“swan song”) or Schwanengesang, from the folk belief that the mute swan sings before dying, already recorded in the fable of The Swan and the Goose.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.