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elegy

Pronunciation: /ˈɛlɪdʒi/

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Definition of elegy

noun (plural elegies)

  • 1(in modern literature) a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.
  • 2(in Greek and Latin verse) a poem written in elegiac couplets, as notably by Catullus and Propertius.

Origin:

early 16th century: from French élégie, or via Latin, from Greek elegeia, from elegos 'mournful poem'

elegy in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of elegy in the US English dictionary