elegance

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French elegance (“refinement”), modern élégance,^[2][3][4][5] from Latin ēlegantia (“fineness of taste, refinement; choice of words”),^[2][6][4] which Etymonline takes as the direct source.^[6] The French noun is recorded from about 1380 of a personal quality, and of language from 1495.^[2] The Latin noun is formed from ēlegāns (“choice, fine, tasteful”),^[2][6] usually regarded as the present participle of an unrecorded *ēlegō, a variant of ēligō (“to pick out, select”), the source of elect.^[2][7][6] Etymonline notes that the Latin adjective was first a term of reproach, "dainty, fastidious", and only later came to mean "tastefully refined".^[6] The OED compares Catalan elegància, Spanish elegancia, Portuguese elegância and Italian eleganza,^[2] and German Eleganz and Swedish elegans also come through French.^[6] The older English form was elegancy, from the early 15th century.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

In language or literary style, a pleasing simplicity and fitness in the choice and order of words: before 1504, in William Atkinson's translation of Thomas à Kempis.^[2][4] Etymonline dates the word to about 1500, for tastefulness and refinement of speech or prose.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The word first praised the style of a writer or speaker, as the French word had since 1495,^[2] and in 1540 it was also used of a single elegant expression.^[2] By 1545 it was used of appearance and movement: grace combined with good taste.^[2] From 1671 it described the neat or ingenious simplicity of a scientific or mathematical proof or invention,^[2] and by 1686 refined propriety of manners.^[2] Etymonline dates the sense "refined luxury" to 1797.^[6] In the 19th century lawyers spoke of the elegance of a legal system, especially Roman law, for its consistency and simplicity (1861, in Maine's Ancient Law).^[2]

Timeline

• before 1504 – harmonious simplicity of literary style.^[2][4]
• 1540 – an elegant expression.^[2]
• 1545 – grace and good taste in appearance or movement.^[2]
• 1655 – correctness of taste (now obsolete).^[2]
• 1671 – ingenious simplicity of a scientific or mathematical work.^[2]
• 1686 – refined propriety of manners.^[2]
• 1746 – something elegant.^[2]
• 1797 – refined luxury.^[6]
• 1861 – in law, the consistency and simplicity of a legal system.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Refinement, grace and beauty in appearance, movement or manners: She danced with effortless elegance.^[7][8][4]
2. Good taste and tasteful richness in design, decoration, dress or presentation.^[7][8]
3. Grace and restraint of style in writing or speech.^[7][2]
4. Neat, ingenious simplicity, as of a mathematical proof or a scientific theory.^[7][2]
5. Something elegant; a refinement.^[8][7][3]

Word family

• elegancy
• overelegance
• superelegance

Related words

• elegant
• elect
• election
• eligible
• select

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins