Elegant


[el-i-guh nt] /ˈɛl ɪ gənt/

adjective
1.
tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.:
elegant furnishings.
2.
gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style:
an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist.
3.
graceful in form or movement:
an elegant wave of the hand.
4.
appropriate to refined taste:
a man devoted to elegant pursuits.
5.
excellent; fine; superior:
an absolutely elegant wine.
6.
(of scientific, technical, or mathematical theories, solutions, etc.) gracefully concise and simple; admirably succinct.
/ˈɛlɪɡənt/
adjective
1.
tasteful in dress, style, or design
2.
dignified and graceful in appearance, behaviour, etc
3.
cleverly simple; ingenious: an elegant solution to a problem
adj.

late 15c., from Middle French élégant (15c.), from Latin elegantem (nominative elegans) “choice, fine, tasteful,” collateral form of present participle of eligere “select with care, choose.” Elegans was originally a term of reproach, “dainty, fastidious;” the notion of “tastefully refined” emerged in classical Latin. Related: Elegantly.

(From Mathematics) Combining simplicity, power, and a certain ineffable grace of design. Higher praise than “clever”, “winning” or even cuspy.
The French aviator, adventurer, and author Antoine de Saint-Exup’ery, probably best known for his classic children’s book “The Little Prince”, was also an aircraft designer. He gave us perhaps the best definition of engineering elegance when he said “A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
[Jargon File]
(1994-11-29)

Read Also:

  • Elegantly

    [el-i-guh nt] /ˈɛl ɪ gənt/ adjective 1. tastefully fine or luxurious in dress, style, design, etc.: elegant furnishings. 2. gracefully refined and dignified, as in tastes, habits, or literary style: an elegant young gentleman; an elegant prosodist. 3. graceful in form or movement: an elegant wave of the hand. 4. appropriate to refined taste: a […]

  • Elegiac

    [el-i-jahy-uh k, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak] /ˌɛl ɪˈdʒaɪ ək, -æk, ɪˈli dʒiˌæk/ adjective, Also, elegiacal 1. used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy. 2. expressing sorrow or lamentation: elegiac strains. 3. Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing […]

  • Elegiacally

    [el-i-jahy-uh k, -ak, ih-lee-jee-ak] /ˌɛl ɪˈdʒaɪ ək, -æk, ɪˈli dʒiˌæk/ adjective, Also, elegiacal 1. used in, suitable for, or resembling an elegy. 2. expressing sorrow or lamentation: elegiac strains. 3. Classical Prosody. noting a distich or couplet the first line of which is a dactylic hexameter and the second a pentameter, or a verse differing […]

  • Elegiac couplet

    noun 1. (classical prosody) a couplet composed of a dactylic hexameter followed by a dactylic pentameter

  • Elegiac-pentameter

    noun, Classical Prosody. 1. (def 2). [pen-tam-i-ter] /pɛnˈtæm ɪ tər/ Prosody noun 1. a line of verse consisting of five metrical feet. 2. Also called elegiac pentameter. Classical Prosody. a verse consisting of two dactyls, one long syllable, two more dactyls, and another long syllable. 3. unrhymed verse of five iambic feet; heroic verse. adjective […]


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