elegy

American  

[el-i-jee] / ˈɛl ɪ dʒi /

noun

elegies plural

1. a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.

2. a poem written in elegiac meter.

3. a sad or mournful musical composition.

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elegy British  

/ ˈɛlɪdʒɪ /

noun

1. a mournful or plaintive poem or song, esp a lament for the dead

2. poetry or a poem written in elegiac couplets or stanzas

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elegy Cultural  

1. A form of poetry that mourns the loss of someone who has died or something that has deteriorated. A notable example is the “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,” by Thomas Gray. (Compare eulogy.)

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Commonly Confused

See eulogy

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• elegies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of elegy

First recorded in 1505–15; from Middle French or directly from Latin elegīa, from Greek elegeîa “elegiac poem or inscription,” originally plural of elegeîon “a distich consisting of an hexameter and a penameter,” equivalent to éleg(os) “song, melody,” later “a lament” + -eios adjective suffix

Compare meaning

How does elegy compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• elegy vs. eulogy

Explanation

An elegy is a sad poem, usually written to praise and express sorrow for someone who is dead. Although a speech at a funeral is a eulogy, you might later compose an elegy to someone you have loved and lost to the grave. The purpose of this kind of poem is to express feelings rather than tell a story. Thomas Gray's “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is a poem that reflects on the lives of common people buried in a church cemetery, and on the nature of human mortality. The noun elegy was borrowed in the 16th century from Middle French élégie, from Latin elegīa, from Greek elegeia, from elegos "mournful poem or song."

Example Sentences

His violent depression and tortured recovery became the subject of “In Memoriam,” a book-length elegy to Hallam.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

"She was at death's door, and she knew I could write, so she asked me to write her an elegy if the worst came to the worst."

From BBC • Nov. 10, 2025

Released in 1976, less than a year after the ship’s sinking, his folk ballad became an instant hit, turning a regional disaster into an international elegy.

From Slate • Nov. 10, 2025

Graff’s elegy for America leads to a core question about moral accountability and complicity: When you look in the mirror each morning, who do you see?

From Salon • Sep. 2, 2025

Bendix: “It was English. Mrs. Nally never cares if you’re late. Seriously, ask her. We were doing the metaphysical poets. Would you be in a rush to get yourself some pastoral elegy of John Donne?”

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin