elegiac

[ el-i-jahy-uhk, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak ]
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adjectiveAlso el·e·gi·a·cal.
  1. used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy.

  2. expressing sorrow or lamentation: elegiac strains.

  1. Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing from the hexameter by suppression of the arsis or metrically unaccented part of the third and the sixth foot.

noun
  1. an elegiac or distich verse.

  2. a poem in such distichs or verses.

Origin of elegiac

1
First recorded in 1575–85; from Middle French, from Latin elegīacus, from Greek elegeiakós; equivalent to elegy + -ac

Other words from elegiac

  • el·e·gi·a·cal·ly, adverb

Words Nearby elegiac

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use elegiac in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for elegiac

elegiac

/ (ˌɛlɪˈdʒaɪək) /


adjective
  1. resembling, characteristic of, relating to, or appropriate to an elegy

  2. lamenting; mournful; plaintive

  1. denoting or written in elegiac couplets or elegiac stanzas

noun
  1. (often plural) an elegiac couplet or stanza

Derived forms of elegiac

  • elegiacally, adverb

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