elegy

American  

[el-i-jee] / ˈɛl ɪ dʒi /

noun

plural

elegies

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

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

Example Sentences

Especially via elegies for men lost in battle over the past 250 years, the poems measure and celebrate the cost of nationhood.

From The Wall Street Journal

Bi is far more invested in that latter revolution and consequently, “Resurrection” can be seen as an elegy for a medium whose cultural relevance has somewhat slipped.

From Los Angeles Times

If you do so while laying off workers and depleting the offerings at the cinema, well, that Tudum sound can be a herald, or it can be an elegy.

From Los Angeles Times

The version here, offered in elegy, is slow but not somber, gripping but also soft-edged.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Bread of Angels” is also an elegy, not just for lost loved ones but for times, places and even physical things.

From Salon