elegy

noun el·e·gy \ ˈe-lə-jē \

Updated on: 18 Apr 2018

Definition of elegy

plural elegies

1 : a poem in elegiac couplets

2 a : a song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation especially for one who is dead

b : something (such as a speech) resembling such a song or poem

3 a : a pensive or reflective poem that is usually nostalgic or melancholy

b : a short pensive musical composition

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Examples of elegy in a Sentence

“O Captain! My Captain!” is Walt Whitman's elegy on the death of President Lincoln

Recent Examples of elegy from the Web

People sometimes seek to memorialize beloved friends and family members through elegies and eulogies, which are easily confused.

— melissa mohr, The Christian Science Monitor, "From one word lover to another," 2 Apr. 2018
The other is the first major elegy written for the beloved poet C.D. Wright, who died suddenly in 2016.

— craig morgan teicher, latimes.com, "Brenda Hillman's 'Extra Hidden Life, Among the Days' ponders how poetry can help us chronicle, engage, grieve," 9 Mar. 2018
That this film was edited by Michael Shawver, the same man who cut Coogler's immersive elegy Fruitvale Station and the propulsive Creed, suggests studio pressure to cram Panther into its present running time.

— simon abrams, The Hollywood Reporter, "A Marvel Fan and a Superhero Skeptic Debate 'Black Panther'," 21 Feb. 2018
Perhaps their elegies for vanished homes in China required distance to write.

— hannah beech, New York Times, "Eyewitnesses to America’s Greatest International Competitor," 2 Feb. 2018
Vaulting back and forth in time, Ziegler's memory play is both elegy and cautionary tale, imbued with poignant loss and keen regret.

— f. kathleen foley, latimes.com, "In Anna Ziegler's 'Delicate Ship,' rough seas for a love triangle," 26 Jan. 2018
The farewell tour for the Delta 747 also serves as an elegy for Sutter, who died last year at 95.

— julie johnsson, chicagotribune.com, "Farewell to the 747, the plane that shrank the world," 19 Dec. 2017
The farewell tour for the Delta 747 also serves as an elegy for Sutter, who died last year at 95.

— julie johnsson, chicagotribune.com, "Farewell to the 747, the plane that shrank the world," 19 Dec. 2017
Part memoir, part biography, part military history, Carew’s first book is also a lovingly unconventional elegy for a generation.

— chronicle staff report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Top 10 books of 2017," 20 Dec. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'elegy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

elegy vs. eulogy

Both elegy and eulogy may be used about writing or speech in remembrance of a person who has passed away, and this semantic overlap creates the potential for confusion. Elegy (which may be traced to the Greek word elegos, “song of mourning”) commonly refers to a song or poem lamenting one who is dead; the word may also refer somewhat figuratively to a nostalgic poem, or to a kind of musical composition. While eulogy is also commonly found referring to words about the deceased, its basic meaning, both in English and in the Greek language from which it was borrowed, is “praise.” Formed from the Greek roots eu “good” and logos “speech,” a eulogy is an encomium given for one who is either living or dead. If you are praising your partner’s unsurpassed beauty or commending the virtues of the deceased at a funeral, you are delivering a eulogy; if you are composing a lamenting reminiscence about a person who has long since passed, you are writing an elegy.