Etymologically
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elegant

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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

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