Ode \Ode\, n. [F., fr. L. ode, oda, Gr. ? a song, especially a lyric song, contr. fr. ?, fr. ? to sing; cf.Skr. vad to speak, sing. Cf. Comedy, Melody, Monody.]

A short poetical composition proper to be set to music or sung; a lyric poem; esp., now, a poem characterized by sustained noble sentiment and appropriate dignity of style.

Hangs odes upon hawthorns and elegies on brambles. --Shak.

O! run; prevent them with thy humble ode, And lay it lowly at his blessed feet. --Milton.

Ode factor, one who makes, or who traffics in, odes; -- used contemptuously.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)