elegies

Variant of elegy

elegy definition

el·egy (el′ə jē)

noun pl. elegies -·gies

  1. any poem in elegiac verse
  2. a poem or song of lament and praise for the dead, as Shelley's “Adonais”
  3. any poem, song, etc. in a mournfully contemplative tone Gray's “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”

Etymology: Fr élégie < L elegia < Gr elegeia < elegos, a lament < ? IE base *el- > alms

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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