RALPH: Rhapsody originally had the same meaning as the Greek word it's derived from, rhapsode - which meant an epic poem like Homer's Iliad.

SARAH: But a similar term in medieval French was used to refer to a group of unconnected or miscellaneous bits of verse, and this term had a negative connotation.

RALPH: This additional sense of the term began to be used in English around the same time that Shakespeare was writing, and, just as in the French, you would use it to describe something you were criticizing.

SARAH: The use of the term rhapsody to mean an emotional or exuberant musical composition only started sometime in the 19th century.