# fugue

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈfyɡ/ · frequency rank #40,254

## Definitions
1. A contrapuntal piece of music wherein a particular melody is played in a number of voices, each voice introduced in turn by playing the melody.
2. Anything in literature, poetry, film, painting, etc., that resembles a fugue in structure or in its elaborate complexity and formality.
3. A fugue state.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French fugue, from Italian fuga (“flight, ardor”), from Latin fuga (“act of fleeing”), from fugiō (“to flee”); compare Ancient Greek φυγή (phugḗ). Apparently from the metaphor that the first part starts alone on its course, and is pursued by later parts. Doublet of fuga.

## Easily confused with
- **fuse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fugue-vs-fuse)
- **fume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fugue-vs-fume)
- **future** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fugue-vs-future)
- **fungus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fugue-vs-fungus)
- **flue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/flue-vs-fugue)
- **fudge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fudge-vs-fugue)
- **figure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/figure-vs-fugue)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ffugue`, `fguue`, `fugeu`, `fuggue`, `fuuge`, `ufgue`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fugue