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elegiac

 [el-i-jahy-uhk, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak]   Example Sentences Origin

el·e·gi·ac

   [el-i-jahy-uhk, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak]
adjective Also, el·e·gi·a·cal.
1.
used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy.
2.
expressing sorrow or lamentation: elegiac strains.
3.
Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing from the hexameter by suppression of the arsis or metrically unaccented part of the third and the sixth foot.
noun
4.
an elegiac or distich verse.
5.
a poem in such distichs or verses.

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Elegiac is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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Origin:
1575–85; (< Middle French ) < Latin elegīacus < Greek elegeiakós. See elegy, -ac

Related forms
el·e·gi·a·cal·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To elegiac
Example Sentences
  • There should be friends and a soundtrack that is elegiac without being sad.
  • There is an elegiac note in the final point of my list.
  • In an elegiac final chapter the authors list the achievements of the city's writers and scientists.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
elegiac (ˌɛlɪˈdʒaɪək)
 
—adj
1.  resembling, characteristic of, relating to, or appropriate to an elegy
2.  lamenting; mournful; plaintive
3.  denoting or written in elegiac couplets or elegiac stanzas
 
—n
4.  (often plural) an elegiac couplet or stanza
 
ele'giacally
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

elegiac
1580s, from L. elegiacus, from Gk. elegeiakos, from eleigeion (see elegy). Related: Elegiacally.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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