Definition of "fugue" []

• Music An imitative polyphonic composition in which a theme or themes are stated successively in all of the voices of the contrapuntal structure. (noun)
• Psychiatry A pathological amnesiac condition during which one is apparently conscious of one's actions but has no recollection of them after returning to a normal state. This condition, usually resulting from severe mental stress, may persist for as long as several months. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And knowing what a fugue is can make you fall in love with Bach."
• "And the art of the literary fugue is "vain," that is, unapologetically aesthetic, without pretense to psychological enlightenment or social commentary (although the occasional image of a tank rolling through the streets of Bucharest does certainly evoke Communist-era realities)."
• "The reasons for his fugue are mysterious, and they need to stay that way for at least half of the novel."