Meanings
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
monody. See dirge
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekἐλεγείᾱ
- Latinelegīa
- Middle Frenchelegie
- Englishelegy
From Middle French elegie, from Latin elegīa, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐλεγείᾱ (elegeíā), ellipsis of ἐλεγείᾱ ᾠδή (elegeíā ōidḗ, “an elegiac song”).
More words from Middle French, Latin, Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἐλεγεία
- ἐλεγεία (elegeía)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Arabic رِثَاء, مَرْثِيَة
- رِثَاء (riṯāʔ)mournful or plaintive poem or song
- مَرْثِيَة (marṯiya)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Bulgarian елегия
- елегия (elegija)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Catalan elegia
- elegiamournful or plaintive poem or song
Chinese Mandarin 挽歌, 哀歌
- 挽歌 (wǎngē)mournful or plaintive poem or song
- 哀歌 (āigē)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Czech žalozpěv, elegie
- žalozpěvmournful or plaintive poem or song
- elegiemournful or plaintive poem or song
Danish elegi, klagesang
- elegimournful or plaintive poem or song
- klagesangmournful or plaintive poem or song
- sørgedigtmournful or plaintive poem or song
Dutch klaaglied
- klaagliedmournful or plaintive poem or song
Esperanto elegio
- elegiomournful or plaintive poem or song
Finnish suruvirsi, valitusvirsi
- suruvirsimournful or plaintive poem or song
- valitusvirsimournful or plaintive poem or song
- elegiamournful or plaintive poem or song
French élégie
- élégiemournful or plaintive poem or song
German Elegie
- Elegiemournful or plaintive poem or song
Greek ελεγεία
- ελεγεία (elegeía)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Hebrew קִנָּה, אלגיה
- קִנָּה (kiná)mournful or plaintive poem or song
- אלגיהmournful or plaintive poem or song
Hungarian elégia
- elégiamournful or plaintive poem or song
Indonesian elegi, gita duka
- elegimournful or plaintive poem or song
- gita dukamournful or plaintive poem or song
Irish marbhna
- marbhnamournful or plaintive poem or song
Japanese 哀歌, 悲歌
- 哀歌 (aika)mournful or plaintive poem or song
- 悲歌 (hika)mournful or plaintive poem or song
- エレジー (erejī)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Korean 만가
- 만가 (man'ga)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Latin elegīa, elegī
- elegīamournful or plaintive poem or song
- elegīmournful or plaintive poem or song
Polish elegia
- elegiamournful or plaintive poem or song
Portuguese elegia
- elegiamournful or plaintive poem or song
Romanian elegie
- elegiemournful or plaintive poem or song
Russian эле́гия
- эле́гия (elégija)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Scottish Gaelic cumha, tuireadh
- cumhamournful or plaintive poem or song
- tuireadhmournful or plaintive poem or song
- marbhnachmournful or plaintive poem or song
- marbhrannmournful or plaintive poem or song
Slovak elégia
- elégiamournful or plaintive poem or song
Spanish elegía, endecha
- elegíamournful or plaintive poem or song
- endechamournful or plaintive poem or song
- epicediomournful or plaintive poem or song
- epiceyomournful or plaintive poem or song
- neniamournful or plaintive poem or song
Swedish elegi
- elegimournful or plaintive poem or song
Tagalog elehiya
- elehiyamournful or plaintive poem or song
Turkish ağıt, sagu
- ağıtmournful or plaintive poem or song
- sagumournful or plaintive poem or song
- mersiyemournful or plaintive poem or song
Ukrainian еле́гія
- еле́гія (eléhija)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Welsh marwnad
- marwnadmournful or plaintive poem or song
Yiddish עלעגיע
- עלעגיע (elegye)mournful or plaintive poem or song
Cite this entry
APA
elegy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elegy
MLA
“elegy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elegy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “elegy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/elegy.
Source: elegy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.