elegancy

C2+ Topic:Clothing & Appearance

US /ˈɛləɡənsi/ UK /ˈɛlɪɡənsi/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
refinement, grace, or tasteful beauty (archaic for elegance)

The hall was decorated with an old-world elegancy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · refinement, grace, or... elegance grace refinement gracefulnesstastefulnesspolish

Opposites

inelegancecrudenesscoarseness clumsiness

Word family

Forms elegancies

Related forms elegant elegance elegantly

Etymology

From Latin ēlegantia ('refinement, tasteful correctness'), from ēlegāns ('choice, tasteful'), from ēligere ('to select'), from ex- ('out') + legere ('to choose').

ēlegantia Latin ēlegāns Latin legere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style

# elegancy

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** ˈɛləɡənsi
**IPA (UK):** ˈɛlɪɡənsi

## Meanings
1. refinement, grace, or tasteful beauty (archaic for elegance)

## Examples
- The hall was decorated with an old-world elegancy.

## Synonyms
- elegance
- grace
- refinement
- gracefulness
- tastefulness
- polish

## Antonyms
- inelegance
- crudeness
- coarseness
- clumsiness

## Related Forms
- elegant
- elegance
- elegantly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ēlegantia
- Root: ēlegāns
- Root: legere

## Etymology
From Latin ēlegantia ('refinement, tasteful correctness'), from ēlegāns ('choice, tasteful'), from ēligere ('to select'), from ex- ('out') + legere ('to choose').

## AI Etymology
Elegancy comes from Latin ēlegantia ('refinement, tasteful correctness'), from ēlegāns ('choice, tasteful'), from ēligere ('to select'), from ex- ('out') + legere ('to choose'). Morphologically, the form is compositional: ex- marks part of the visible structure, while the remaining element supplies the lexical base. In present use, it is used as a noun meaning "refinement, grace, or tasteful beauty (archaic for elegance)", so the historical material remains connected with the current sense rather than standing as bare ancestry. The wider English family includes related forms such as elegant, elegance, and elegantly, showing how the same historical material continues to organize neighboring vocabulary. The named historical forms include Latin ēlegantia, Latin ēlegāns, and Latin legere, keeping the history tied to concrete forms rather than a loose resemblance.

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style

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elegancy

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