elegance

See also: élégance

English

Etymology

From Middle French élégance, from Latin ēlegantia (“exquisiteness; refinement, elegance”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛl.ɪ.ɡəns/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Hyphenation: el‧e‧gance

Noun

elegance (usually uncountable, plural elegances)

1. Grace, refinement, and beauty in movement, appearance, or manners.

   The bride was elegance personified.

2. Restraint and grace of style.

   The simple dress had a quiet elegance.

3. The beauty of an idea characterized by minimalism and intuitiveness while preserving exactness and precision.

   The proof of the theorem had a pleasing elegance.

4. (countable, dated) A refinement or luxury.
   • 1852, Various, Young Americans Abroad‎^[1]:

     As to the comforts and elegances of life, we have enough of them for our good.

   • 1881, Isaac D'Israeli, Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 1‎^[2]:

     At Rome, when Sallust was the fashionable writer, short sentences, uncommon words, and an obscure brevity, were affected as so many elegances.

   • 1909, E. Phillips Oppenheim, chapter 10, in The Governors‎^[3]:

     Phineas Duge […] was, for a man of affairs and an American, singularly fond of the small elegances of life. Although he sat alone at dinner, the table was heaped with choice flowers and carefully selected hothouse fruit.

Derived terms

• creeping elegance
• piss-elegance

 

Related terms

• elegant

Translations

grace, refinement, and beauty in movement, appearance, or manners

• Afar: bilqá f
• Arabic: أَنَاقَة f (ʔanāqa)
• Bengali: জামাল (bn) (jamal)
• Bulgarian: елега́нтност (bg) f (elegántnost), изи́сканост (bg) f (izískanost)
• Catalan: elegància f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高雅 (zh) (gāoyǎ), 優雅／优雅 (zh) (yōuyǎ)

• Czech: elegance f
• Danish: elegance c
• Dutch: elegantie (nl) f
• Finnish: eleganssi (fi), hienostuneisuus (fi)
• French: élégance (fr) f, grâce (fr) f, finesse (fr) f
• Galician: elegancia (gl) f
• German: Eleganz (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: εὐσχημοσύνη f (euskhēmosúnē)

• Hindi: लालित्य (hi) m (lālitya), शिष्टता (hi) f (śiṣṭatā)
• Irish: gléastacht f
• Japanese: 優雅 (ja) (ゆうが, yūga), 高雅 (ja) (こうが, kōga), 典雅 (ja) (てんが, tenga)
• Korean: 우아 (ko) (ua), 기품 (ko) (gipum), 고아 (ko) (goa)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: eleganse m

  Nynorsk: eleganse m

• Polish: elegancja (pl) f
• Portuguese: elegância (pt) f
• Quechua: k'acha
• Romanian: eleganță (ro) f, grație (ro) f, finețe (ro) f
• Russian: элега́нтность (ru) f (elegántnostʹ), изы́сканность (ru) f (izýskannostʹ), изя́щество (ru) n (izjáščestvo)
• Swedish: elegans (sv) c
• Tagalog: elegansya
• Telugu: సొంపు (te) (sompu)
• Ukrainian: елега́нтність f (elehántnistʹ), ви́шуканість f (výšukanistʹ)

restraint and grace in style

• Bulgarian: изтънченост (bg) f (iztǎnčenost)
• Danish: elegance c, smagfuldhed c
• Finnish: eleganssi (fi), tyylikkyys (fi), tyyli (fi)
• Irish: gléastacht f
• Polish: elegancja (pl) f
• Portuguese: elegância (pt) f
• Russian: элега́нтность (ru) f (elegántnostʹ), изы́сканность (ru) f (izýskannostʹ)
• Tagalog: elegansya
• Ukrainian: елега́нтність f (elehántnistʹ), ви́шуканість f (výšukanistʹ)

beauty of an idea

• Bulgarian: елега́нтност (bg) f (elegántnost)
• Finnish: eleganssi (fi), tyylikkyys (fi)
• Irish: cuannacht f
• Russian: элега́нтность (ru) f (elegántnostʹ)
• Tagalog: kagandahan

refinement or luxury

• Finnish: ylellisyys (fi)
• Irish: gléastacht f
• Tagalog: elegansya

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} elegantie (nl) f
• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} eleganteco
• French: ^{(please verify)} élégance (fr) f
• German: ^{(please verify)} Eleganz (de) f
• Greek: ^{(please verify)} κομψότητα (el) f (kompsótita)
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} elegancia (hu)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} eleganza (it) f
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 우아 (ko) (ua)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} شۆخی (şoxî)

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} elegancia (es) f, ^{(please verify)} chic (es) m

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛlɛɡant͡sɛ]

Noun

elegance f

1. elegance

Declension

Declension of elegance (soft feminine)

	singular	plural
nominative	elegance	elegance
genitive	elegance	elegancí
dative	eleganci	elegancím
accusative	eleganci	elegance
vocative	elegance	elegance
locative	eleganci	elegancích
instrumental	elegancí	elegancemi

Related terms

• elegantní
• elegán

 

Further reading

• elegance in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• elegance in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
• elegance in Internetová jazyková příručka