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elegy
[ el-i-jee ]
/ ˈɛl ɪ dʒi /
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noun, plural el·e·gies.
a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.
a poem written in elegiac meter.
a sad or mournful musical composition.
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Origin of elegy
First recorded in 1505–15; from Middle French or directly from Latin elegīa, from Greek elegeîa “elegiac poem or inscription,” originally plural of elegeîon “a distich consisting of an hexameter and a penameter,” equivalent to éleg(os) “song, melody,” later “a lament” + -eios adjective suffix
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH elegy
elegy , eulogyWords nearby elegy
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use elegy in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for elegy
elegy
/ (ˈɛlɪdʒɪ) /
noun plural -gies
a mournful or plaintive poem or song, esp a lament for the dead
poetry or a poem written in elegiac couplets or stanzas
Word Origin for elegy
C16: via French and Latin from Greek elegeia, from elegos lament sung to flute accompaniment
undefined elegy
Avoid confusion with eulogy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for elegy
elegy
[ (el-uh-jee) ]
A form of poetry that mourns the loss of someone who has died or something that has deteriorated. A notable example is the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” by Thomas Gray. (Compare eulogy.)
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.