elegy
NounUS[el-uh-jee]/ˈɛləˌdʒi/3 syllables
Synonyms:
lament
Open English WordNet
Noun (1)elegies
- a mournful poem; a lament for the deadSynonyms: lamentType of poem, verse form
Word of the day · Sep 28About this word
onerousadjective
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
El′e·gy noun; pl. Elegies (#).
Origin: L. elegia, Gr. …, fem. sing. (cf. …, prop., neut. pl. of … a distich in elegiac verse), fr. … elegiac, fr. … a song of mourning.
A mournful or plaintive poem; a funereal song; a poem of lamentation. William Shakespeare
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54
The Devil's Dictionary
ELEGY, n. A composition in verse, in which, without employing any of the methods of humor, the writer aims to produce in the reader's mind the dampest kind of dejection. The most famous English example begins somewhat like this:
The cur foretells the knell of parting day; The loafing herd winds slowly o'er the lea; The wise man homeward plods; I only stay To fiddle-faddle in a minor key.