adjectivethird-declension one-termination adjective
ēlegāns
ēlegāns (genitive ēlegantis, comparative ēlegantior, superlative ēlegantissimus, adverb ēleganter)
Classical[ˈeː.ɫɛ.ɡãːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈɛː.le.ɡans]
Meaning
- one terminationfine, elegant, handsome
- one terminationtasteful
- one terminationfastidious, critical
- one terminationdiscriminating, polite
Declension
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ēlegāns | ēlegāns | ēlegāns |
| genitive | ēlegantis ēligantis | ēlegantis ēligantis | ēlegantis ēligantis |
| dative | ēlegantī ēligantī | ēlegantī ēligantī | ēlegantī ēligantī |
| accusative | ēlegantem ēligantem | ēlegantem ēligantem | ēlegāns |
| ablative | ēlegantī ēlegante, ēligante, ēligantī | ēlegantī ēlegante, ēligante, ēligantī | ēlegantī ēlegante, ēligante, ēligantī |
| vocative | ēlegāns | ēlegāns | ēlegāns |
| form | masculine | feminine | neuter |
|---|---|---|---|
| nominative | ēlegantēs ēligantēs | ēlegantēs ēligantēs | ēlegantia ēligantia |
| genitive | ēlegantium ēligantium | ēlegantium ēligantium | ēlegantium ēligantium |
| dative | ēlegantibus ēligantibus | ēlegantibus ēligantibus | ēlegantibus ēligantibus |
| accusative | ēlegantīs ēlegantēs, ēligantēs, ēligantīs | ēlegantīs ēlegantēs, ēligantēs, ēligantīs | ēlegantia ēligantia |
| ablative | ēlegantibus ēligantibus | ēlegantibus ēligantibus | ēlegantibus ēligantibus |
| vocative | ēlegantēs ēligantēs | ēlegantēs ēligantēs | ēlegantia ēligantia |
Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book
- elegantia orationis
- tasteful description.
- disserendi elegantia
- logical minuteness, precision.
- elegantia in illo est
- he possesses sound judgment in matters of taste.
- doctrina exquisita, subtilis, elegans
- sound knowledge; scholarship.
- aures elegantes, teretes, tritae (De Or. 9. 27)
- a fine, practised ear.
- iudicium subtile, elegans, exquisitum, intellegens
- good taste; delicate perception.
- ratione, eleganter (opp. nulla ratione, ineleganter, confuse) disponere aliquid
- to arrange on strictly logical principles.
- accipere aliquem (bene, copiose, laute, eleganter, regio apparatu, apparatis epulis)
- to entertain, regale a person.
ēlĕgans (in some MSS. eligans; cf. Beier Cic. Orr. Fragmm. p. 105), antis, adj. prob. collat. form of eligens, from eligo, Cic. N. D. 2, 28, 72.
I. In the ante-class. period in a bad sense, luxurious, effeminate, fastidious, nice: elegans homo non dicebatur cum laude;
sed id fere verbum ad aetatem M. Catonis vitii, non laudis fuit ... ex quibus verbis (Catonis) apparet, elegantem dictum antiquitus non ab ingenii elegantia, sed qui nimis lecto amoenoque cultu victuque esset, etc., Gell. 11, 2, 1; cf. Non. 465, 11 sq.: heia, ut elegans est! how choice! how nice! Ter. Heaut. 5, 5, 19 Ruhnk.; cf. id. Eun. 3, 1, 18; 3, 5, 18 (but not in Plaut. Trin. 2, 1, 14, v. Ritschl ad h. l.).—II. Class. in a good sense, choice, nice, fine, neat, tasteful, elegant.
A. Of persons: tu festivus, tu elegans, tu solus urbanus, quem decet muliebris ornatus, etc., Cic. Clod. et Cur. 5, p. 105, ed. Beier; cf. (with mundus) id. Fin. 2, 8, 23; (with splendidus) Nep. Att. 13, 5;
and opp. parcus, Cic. Brut. 40, 148; id. Or. 25, 83: auctor, Vell. 1, 13: mulier (Phryne—with formosa), Val. Max. 4, 3, 3 ext.: intelligo te hominem in omni judicio elegantissimum, Cic. Fam. 7, 23 et saep.: scriptor, id. Brut. 9; 16, 63; 68, 239; Quint. 10, 1, 78 al.; cf. in the comp.: quis verbis aut ornatior aut elegantior (sc. Caesare)? Cic. ap. Suet. Caes. 55; in the sup.: poëta, Nep. Att. 12, 4: elegans et concinnus (pictor), Plin. 35, 10, 36, § 111.—As subst.: ēlĕgantes, ium, m., fine gentlemen, city people (opp. agrestes), Col. 7, 2, 1.—B. Of things:
nec magis compositum quicquam, nec magis elegans, Ter. Eun. 5, 4, 13; cf. (with decorum) Cic. Div. 1, 30: a necessariis artificiis ad elegantiora defluximus, id. Tusc. 1, 25, 62; cf. Liv. 44, 9: artes elegantes et ingenuae, Cic. Fin. 3, 2: temperamentum, Tac. A. 11, 4: color, Plin. 15, 8, 8, § 34 et saep.: perspicitis, hoc genus (jocandi) quam sit facetum, quam elegans, quam oratorium, Cic. de Or. 2, 59, 241; cf. id. Off. 1, 29, 104; id. Brut. 85; Quint. 6, 3, 39; 10, 1, 65 al.— Comp.: ego autem a te elegantiora desidero, Cic. Fin. 4, 10; and sup.: epistola, id. Att. 16, 13 a.; cf.: scripta Terentii, Quint. 10, 1, 99: utrum sit elegantius, Anton. ap. Cic. Phil. 13, 18: solum, Plin. 14, 4, 5, § 50. —Hence, adv.: ēlĕganter, with correct choice, tastefully, neatly, finely, gracefully, elegantly: lautiores eleganter accepti, Cic. Att. 13, 52, 2: quiete et pure atque eleganter acta aetas, id. de Sen. 5; cf.: acta vita, Liv. 35, 31: herba foliis rotundis eleganter vestita, Plin. 25, 5, 19, § 43 et saep.—Comp.: psallere et saltare, Sall. C. 24, 2: quid enim facere potuit elegantius ad hominum existimationem? Cic. Div. in Caecil. 17: elegantius aut justius fieri, id. Fam. 3, 8, 2: facturos si, etc., Liv. 37, 1: neminem elegantius loca cepisse, more fitly, judiciously, Liv. 35, 14: causam accurate eleganterque dicere, Cic. Brut. 22, 86; so of speech, id. Fam. 5, 13, 3; id. Tusc. 2, 3; Quint. 6, 3, 102; 8, 2, 21 al.; cf. in the sup., Cic. Brut. 72, 252; Quint. 11, 1, 74.Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
ēlegāns antis, adj. with comp. and sup.
for ēligēns, P. of eligo, accustomed to select, fastidious, nice, delicate : heia, ut elegans est! T.: qui se elegantīs dici volunt: elegantissimus poëta, N. — Select, choice, neat, finished, tasteful, elegant : a te elegantiora desidero: elegantissimae familiae: opus: genus (iocandi).
Origins
The present participle of an unattested verb *ēlegāre ("to choose considerately"), probably from an intermediate noun *ēlegus ("chooser"), from ēligō (“to choose”) + -us. For a similar formation, see occupō.
Descendants
- Catalanelegant
- Englishelegant
- Frenchélégant
- Germanelegant
- Italianelegante
- Occitanelegant
- Portugueseelegante
- Spanishelegante
- Romanianelegant
- Galicianelegante