[el-i-guh
nt] 
| 1. | tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.: elegant furnishings. |
| 2. | gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style: an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist. |
| 3. | graceful in form or movement: an elegant wave of the hand. |
| 4. | appropriate to refined taste: a man devoted to elegant pursuits. |
| 5. | excellent; fine; superior: an absolutely elegant wine. |
| 6. | (of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct. |
| el·e·gant (ěl'ĭ-gənt) adj. Characterized by or exhibiting refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form, or style. See Synonyms at delicate. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin ēlegāns, ēlegant-, present participle of *ēlegāre, variant of ēligere, to select; see elect.] el'e·gant·ly adv. |
elegant
(From Mathematics) Combining simplicity, power, and a certain ineffable grace of design. Higher praise than "clever", "winning" or even cuspy.
The French aviator, adventurer, and author Antoine de Saint-Exup'ery, probably best known for his classic children's book "The Little Prince", was also an aircraft designer. He gave us perhaps the best definition of engineering elegance when he said "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
[The Jargon File]
(1994-11-29)