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elegiac

 - 2 dictionary results

el⋅e⋅gi⋅ac

  [el-i-jahy-uhk, -ak, i-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.
Use elegiac in a Sentence
Origin:
1575–85; (< MF) < L elegīacus < Gk 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. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To elegiac
el·e·gi·ac   (ěl'ə-jī'ək, ĭ-lē'jē-āk')   
adj.  

  1. Of, relating to, or involving elegy or mourning or expressing sorrow for that which is irrecoverably past: an elegiac lament for youthful ideals.

  2. Of or composed in elegiac couplets.


[Late Latin elegīacus, from Greek elegeiakos, from elegeia, elegy; see elegy.]
el'e·gi'ac n., el'e·gi'a·cal adj., el'e·gi'a·cal·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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