elegance

See also: élégance

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈɛl.ɪ.ɡəns/
- Audio (RP) (file)
Hyphenation: el‧e‧gance

Noun

elegance (usually uncountable, plural elegances)

Grace, refinement, and beauty in movement, appearance, or manners.
The bride was elegance personified.
Restraint and grace of style.
The simple dress had a quiet elegance.
The beauty of an idea characterized by minimalism and intuitiveness while preserving exactness and precision.
The proof of the theorem had a pleasing elegance.
(countable, dated) A refinement or luxury.
- 1852, Various, Young Americans Abroad‎:
  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:
  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:
  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 (ʾanāqa)
Bengali: জামাল (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)
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)
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)
Russian: элега́нтность (ru) f (elegántnostʹ)
Tagalog: kagandahan

refinement or luxury

Finnish: ylellisyys (fi)
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 (ku) (şoxî)
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} elegancia (es) f, ^{(please verify)} chic (es) m

Czech

Noun

elegance f

elegance

Related terms

elegantní
elegán