Ode (ōd), n. [F., fr. L. ode, oda, Gr. ᾠδή a song, especially a lyric song, contr. fr. αοιδἤ, fr. αεἴδειν 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.