E-lē’gi-ae or Ēl’e-gī’ae1, a.
(117) (Synop., § 130), a. [Late Lat. elegiacus, from elegia, Gr. ἐλεγείος, Fr. élégiaque. See ELEGY.]
Sense 1. Belonging to elegy, or written in elegiacs; plaintive; expressing sorrow or lamentation; as, an elegiac lay; elegiac strains. “Elegiac griefs, and songs of love.” E. B. Browning.
Sense 2. Used in elegies; as, elegiac verse; the elegiac distich or couplet, consisting of a dactylic hexameter and pentameter.