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Definition of "elegy" []

  • A poem composed in elegiac couplets. (noun)
  • A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person. (noun)
  • Something resembling such a poem or song. (noun)
  • Music A composition that is melancholy or pensive in tone. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "elegy" in a sentence
  • "The elegy is one of our necessary forms as we try to come to terms with the fact that people around us die, that we, too, will die."
  • "The other elegy is shorter and less striking in conception, but gives a similar impression of the importance assigned to Louis de"
  • "This inimitable pathetic elegy is supposed by many writers to have become a national war song, and to have been taught to the young Israelites under the name of "The Bow," in conformity with the practice of Hebrew and many classical writers in giving titles to their songs from the principal theme (Ps 22: 1; 56: 1; 60: 1; 80: 1; 100: 1)."