Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
DUAN, n. A poem, ode, portion of a longer poem, canto. The word was used by Macpherson in his Ossian and became familiar in the subsequent controversy in the 18th c. whence Burns adopted it (see quots.). Liter. [′duən]Sc. 1765 J. Macpherson Ossian II. 237:
Cath-loda. Duan 1. . . . The bards distinguished these compositions in which the narration is often interrupted by episodes and apostrophes, by the name of Duan. Ayr. 1786 Burns Vision i.:
Duan First . . . Duan, a term of Ossian's for the different divisions of a digressive poem.
[Gael., Ir. duan, verse written for singing or recitation, usu. consisting of more than one stanza, a section or division of a longer poem.]
