elegant

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈel.ɪ.ɡənt/, US /ˈel.ə.ɡənt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French élégant and directly Latin ēlegāns (“choice, fine, tasteful”),^[2][3][4] usually explained as the present participle of an unattested *ēlegō, a parallel form of ēligō (“to select with care, choose”) (see elect).^[2][3][5] In Latin the word was at first a term of reproach, and the sense “refined” emerged in classical times.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tastefully ornate in dress, sometimes in an unfavourable sense: about 1485.^[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

The basic idea behind the word is being discerning and choosing with care, the same idea as in elect, eligible and elite.^[7] It was used of literary style from 1528,^[6] of refined grace in general from the 1520s in Etymonline or 1658 in the OED,^[3][6] of a speaker or writer from 1641,^[6] and of a neat, ingenious scientific method from 1668.^[6] In the 16th century it could also mean tall, of stature.^[6] The noun, a fashionable person, is from 1780, from French.^[5] Elegance is from the 16th century.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 1485 – tastefully ornate in dress.^[2][6]
• 1513 – tall (16th century).^[6]
• 1528 – of literary style.^[6]
• 1658 – refined grace of form.^[6]
• 1668 – neat and ingenious (science).^[6]
• 1780 – an elegant (noun).^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Showing refined, tasteful beauty of manner, form or style; stylish.
2. Dignified and graceful in appearance or behaviour.
3. Cleverly simple; ingenious: an elegant solution.

Word family

• elegantly
• elegancy
• hyperelegant
• overelegant
• superelegant
• unelegant
• elegance

Related words

• elect
• eligible
• elite

Usage notes

Etymonline quotes the Century Dictionary's distinction: elegant implies a grace that comes from training and the study of models, graceful a more natural gift.^[3]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press