| 释义 |
elegant, a.|ˈɛlɪgənt|
Forms: 5 ileȝant, 6 eligant, -aunt, elygant, 6– elegant.
[a. F. élégant, ad. L. ēlegānt-em, usually regarded as pr. pple. of *ēlegāre (f. *ēleg-us adj.), related to ēligĕre to select.
The etymological sense is thus ‘choosing carefully or skilfully.’ In early Lat. elegans was a term of reproach, ‘dainty, fastidious, foppish’, but in classical times it expressed the notions of refined luxury, graceful propriety, which are reproduced in the mod.Eng. use.]
1. Tastefully ornate in attire; sometimes in unfavourable sense: Dainty, foppish.
c1485Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 505, I woll, or even, be shavyn, for to seme ȝyng..that makyt me Ileȝant and lusty in lykyng. 1509Barclay Ship of Fooles (1570) 113 It is..not for man to be so elegant, To such toyes wanton women may encline. 1552Huloet, Elegant person, philocalus. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. vii, A woman if she see her neighbour more neat or elegant..is enraged. 1801M. Edgeworth Good Fr. Gov. (1832) 124 She is the elegantest dresser about town. 1882tr. Challamet Hist. Fashion in France i, An elegant town lady would..adorn herself with a mantle that half covered her.
2. a. Characterized by refined grace of form (usually as the result of art or culture); tastefully ornamental. Of physical movements: Graceful, free from awkwardness.
1658W. Burton Itin. Anton. 117 The Sixth Legion..left behind them here a remembrance..yet to be seen, in large and elegant Characters. 1684Ray Corr. (1848) 138 The Polypodium plumosum is an elegant plant. 1760Goldsm. Cit. W. xiv. (1837) 53 Nothing is truly elegant but what unites use with beauty. 1774T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry (1840) II. 272 A most splendid and elegant manuscript on vellum. 1809Roland Fencing 137 The passing of the sword to the left side..has..a more..elegant appearance.
†b. Of stature: in 16th c. with sense ‘tall’.
1513Douglas æneis vii. xiv. 10 Turnus..Enarmit walkis..Wyth corps of statur eligant [præstanti]. 1450–1530Mirr. Our Ladye 7 That the sayd blessyd virgyne Katheryn because she was of an Eligant stature wold gather them of the sayd grapes.
3. Of modes of life, dwellings and their appointments, etc.: Characterized by refined luxury.
a1687Petty Pol. Arith. ii. (1691) 38 Beautifying the Country..by elegant Dyet, Apparel, Furniture. 1806Gazetteer Scotl. 141 Dumfries-shire contains many elegant seats. 1822De Quincey Confess. (1862) 137 What he considered a really elegant dinner. 1835Sir J. Ross N.-West Pass. v. 66 An elegant repast of venison. 1859W. Collins Q. of Hearts (1873) 2 He felt languid pulses in elegant bedrooms.
4. a. Of composition, literary style, etc.; also of words or phrases: Characterized by grace and refinement; ‘pleasing by minuter beauties’ (J.).
Formerly used somewhat vaguely as a term of praise for literary style; from 18th c. it has tended more and more to exclude any notion of intensity or grandeur, and, when applied to compositions in which these qualities might be looked for, has a depreciatory sense.
1528More Heresyes i. Wks. (1557) 174/2 The bokes neither lesse eligaunt nor lesse true. 1529Rastell Pastyme, Hist. Brit. (1811) 292 In a longe oracyon..with elygant wordes. 1649Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. iii. xiv. 51 A most elegant and perswasive parable. 1672–5T. Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 23 Arnobius, an African, writ his elegant books against the Gentiles. 1756J. Warton Ess. Pope (1782) I. vi. 302 Addison has inserted..an elegant character of this poetess. 1791Burke Corr. (1844) III. 207, I thank you, too, for the elegant poem. 1841–4Emerson Ess. xx. Wks. (Bohn) I. 250 Pope's Odyssey..is..correct and elegant. 1876Freeman Norm. Conq. V. xxv. 545 The love of hard words, of words which are thought to sound learned or elegant, that is..which are not thoroughly understood.
b. Of a speaker or author: Characterized by refinement and polish of style. (Formerly in wider use: see above.)
1641Milton Animadv. (1851) 189 They did no more then the elegantest Authors among the Greeks. 1672–5T. Comber Comp. Temple (1702) 44 The learned volumes of this Elegant Father [Chrysostom]. 1887Spectator 6 Aug. 1057/2 Rogers belongs to the elegant order of poets.
5. a. Of scientific processes, contrivances, etc.: ‘Neat’, pleasing by ingenious simplicity and effectiveness.
1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iv. ix. 166 An elegant Workmanship of Nature. 1803Med. Jrnl. X. 336 Profound discoveries and elegant improvements in every branch of medical science. 1823J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 198 An elegant cement may also be made from rice-flour. 1844–57G. Bird Urin. Deposits 146 An elegant mode of showing the composition of the deposit. a1891Mod. An elegant chess problem. An elegant method of solving equations. 1952G. Manley Climate & Brit. Scene iii. 32 We owe to Sir Geoffrey Taylor of Cambridge one of the most elegant discussions of the factors governing the depth and density of such fogs. 1966‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive viii. 74 This operation..was sensitive and it was elegant. 1966Listener 1 Sept. 304/1 MacNeish's demonstration is particularly elegant because he could trace the whole processes in a small, almost self-contained area.
b. Of medicinal preparations: see quot.
1710T. Fuller Pharm. Extemp. 127 It [the Electuary] is an elegant Composition for a troublesome..Cough. 1788V. Knox Winter Even. I. vi. 67 The physicians call a medicine which contains efficient ingredients in a small volume, and of a pleasant or tolerable taste, an elegant medicine. 1868Royle & Headland Mat. Medica (ed. 5) 172 This elegant chalybeate has been long in use.
6. a. Of persons: Correct and delicate in taste. Now only in the phrase elegant scholar, which is influenced in meaning by 7.
1667Milton P.L. ix. 1018 Thou art exact of taste, And elegant. 1774T. Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry (1840) I. Diss. i. 19 A very..elegant enquirer into the genius..of the northern nations. 1788V. Knox Winter Even. II. ii. 118 An elegant spectator of the vegetable world. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits xiv. Wks. (Bohn) II. 109 Mr. Hallam, a learned and elegant scholar.
b. Refined in manners and habits (formerly also, in feeling).
1712Steele Spect. No. 491 ⁋2 An utter Stranger to the..Delicacies that attend the Passion..in elegant Minds. 1797Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i. (1824) 533 Her features..expressed the tranquillity of an elegant mind. 1841–4Emerson Ess. xvi. Wks. (Bohn) I. 209 A sainted soul is always elegant. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt (1868) 26 Such a stock of ideas may be made to tell in elegant society.
7. Of pursuits, studies (formerly also, of sentiments): Graceful, polite, appropriate to persons of refinement and cultivated taste. elegant arts: those pertaining to the adornment of life; nearly = ‘fine arts’.
1705Pope To Yng. Lady 4 Trifles themselves are elegant in him. 1712Steele Spect. No. 466 ⁋7 Every thing in Nature that can pretend to give elegant Delight. 1752Hume Ess. & Treat. (1777) I. 7 The ardours of a youthful appetite become an elegant passion. 1779Johnson L.P., Shenstone Wks. IV. 215 Eminent for English poetry, and elegant literature. 1821Craig Lect. Drawing i. 1 A high state of the elegant arts..is indicative of great advancement in civilization.
¶8. Vulgarly used for ‘excellent, first-rate’. Cf. iligant a.
1764J. Blair Acct. Coll. New-Jersey 12 The college had..‘an elegant hall of genteel workmanship’. 1817M. Birkbeck Notes Journey America 152 You hear of an elegant mill, an elegant orchard, an elegant tan-yard, &c. and familiarly of elegant roads, meaning such as you may pass without extreme peril. The word implies elegibility or usefulness in America, but has nothing to do with taste. 1822J. Woods Engl. Prairie Illinois 203 This negro said, some very elegant potatoes grew on this land last year. 1848Bartlett Dict. Amer., Elegant for excellent applied to articles of food and drink, is very common: as elegant water, elegant beef, elegant butter. 1931O. T. Barck New York City iv. 83 The most elegant of these homes were occupied by officers.
9. Comb.
1799Malthus Jrnl. 3 July (1966) 117 We had met with many pretty elegant looking women. 1809H. More Coelebs I. 38 (Jod.) Sir John is a valuable elegant-minded man.
Hence ˈeleganˌtize v. trans. [see -ize], to make elegant. ˈelegantˌish a. [see -ish], rather elegant.
1798Lamb Lett. to Southey iv. 35 You might..elegantise this supersedeas. 1830Fraser's Mag. I. 568 What criticisms..have been put forth..in that elegantish..periodical! |