elegiac

English

Etymology

From Middle French élégiaque.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛləˈdʒaɪæk/, /ˌɛləˈdʒaɪək/
• IPA^(key): /ˌɛlɨˈdʒʌɪək/
• Rhymes: -aɪæk
• Rhymes: -aɪək

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.
   • 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?

   • (Can we date this quote by Elizabeth Browning and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Elegiac griefs, and songs of love.

Derived terms

• elegiacal
• elegiacally
• elegiac pentameter
• unelegiac

 

Translations

of or relating to an elegy

• Catalan: elegíac (ca) m, elegíaca (ca) f
• Finnish: eleginen (fi)
• French: élégiaque (fr) m or f
• Galician: elexíaco m, elexíaca f
• Georgian: ელეგიური (elegiuri)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: elegisch (de)
• Macedonian: елегиски (elegiski)
• Polish: elegiacki (pl), elegijny (pl)
• Romanian: elegiac (ro)
• Spanish: elegíaco (es) m, elegíaca f

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^[1], 2nd ed. edition, page 385:

     His saphics are worse, if possible, than his elegiacs

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Romanian

Etymology

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