elegiac

English

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elegiac

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle French élégiaque, from Latin elegīacus, from Ancient Greek ἐλεγειακός (elegeiakós).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɛlɪˈd͡ʒaɪək/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɛləˈd͡ʒaɪək/, /ˌɛləˈd͡ʒaɪˌæk/, /ɪˈlid͡ʒiˌæk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪək, -aɪæk, -iːdʒiæk

Adjective

elegiac (comparative more elegiac, superlative most elegiac)

1. Of or relating to an elegy.

   the elegiac distich or couplet, consisting of a dactylic hexameter and pentameter

2. Expressing sorrow or mourning.

   Synonyms: sorrowful, mournful; see also Thesaurus:sad

   • 1808 February 22, Walter Scott, “Introduction to Canto Third: To William Erskine, Esq.”, in Marmion; a Tale of Flodden Field, Edinburgh: […] J[ames] Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Company, […]; London: William Miller, and John Murray, →OCLC, stanza III, page 119:

     Hast thou no elegiac verse / For Brunswick's venerable hearse, / What! not a line, a tear, a sigh, / When valour bleeds for liberty?

   • 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “First Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 36:

     And elegiac griefs, and songs of love,

Derived terms

• elegiacal
• elegiacally
• elegiac couplet
• elegiac pentameter
• unelegiac

Translations

of or relating to an elegy

Bulgarian: елегичен (elegičen) Catalan: elegíac (ca) Finnish: eleginen (fi) French: élégiaque (fr) Galician: elexíaco (gl) Georgian: ელეგიური (elegiuri) German: elegisch (de) Italian: elegiaco (it) Macedonian: елегиски (elegiski) Norwegian: Bokmål: elegisk Polish: elegiacki (pl), elegijny (pl) Portuguese: elegíaco Romanian: elegiac (ro) Spanish: elegíaco (es)

Noun

elegiac (plural elegiacs)

1. A poem composed in the couplet style of classical elegies: a line of dactylic hexameter followed by a line of dactylic pentameter.
   • 1748, John Upton, Critical Observations on Shakespeare‎, 2nd edition, page 385:

     His saphics are worse, if possible, than his elegiacs

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French élégiaque.

Adjective

elegiac m or n (feminine singular elegiacă, masculine plural elegiaci, feminine and neuter plural elegiace)

1. elegiac

Declension

Declension of elegiac

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	elegiac		elegiacă		elegiaci	elegiace
	definite	elegiacul		elegiaca		elegiacii	elegiacele
genitive- dative	indefinite	elegiac		elegiace		elegiaci	elegiace
	definite	elegiacului		elegiacei		elegiacilor	elegiacelor