elegy
elegy Lexical Profile
elegy Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A poem or song of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead or a meditation on loss.
"The poet composed a moving elegy in memory of his childhood friend."
A mournful, melancholy, or pensive instrumental musical composition.
"The cellist performed Gabriel Fauré's famous elegy as the evening's concluding piece."
In classical Greek and Roman literature, a poem written in elegiac couplets (alternating lines of dactylic hexameter and pentameter) on various subjects such as love, war, or mourning.
"In our classical literature seminar, we translated a Roman love elegy by Ovid."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'elegy' with 'eulogy': an elegy is a mournful poem or musical lament reflecting on death or loss, whereas a eulogy is a prose speech of praise delivered at a funeral.
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 16th century via Middle French 'élégie' and Latin 'elegia', from Ancient Greek 'elegeia', derived from 'elegos' meaning 'mournful song or lament'.