Webster's English Dictionary

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elegiac

ele.gi.ac also el.e.gi.a.cal \.el-*-'ji--*k, -'ji--.ak; i-'le--je--.ak\ 
   \.el-*-'ji--*-k*l\ aj [LL elegiacus, fr. Gk elegeiakos, fr. elegeion] 1a: 
   of, relating to, or consisting of two dactylic hexameter lines the sec ond 
   of which lacks the arses in the third and sixth feet 1b1: written in or 
   consisting of elegiac couplets  1b2: noted for having written poetry in 
   such couplets  1c: of or relating to the period in Greece about the seventh 
   century B. C. when poetry written in such couplets flourished 2: of, 
   relating to, or comprising elegy or an elegy; esp : express ing sorrow 
   often for something now past - elegiac n