1. A poem composed in elegiac couplets.
2. 1. A poem or song composed especially as a lament for a deceased person.
   2. Something resembling such a poem or song.
3. Music. A composition that is melancholy or pensive in tone.

[French élégie, from Latin elegīa, from Greek elegeia, from pl. of elegeion, elegiac distich, from elegos, song, mournful song.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.