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Elegy vs. Eulogy
Both elegy and eulogy may be used about writing or speech in remembrance of a person who has passed away, and this semantic overlap creates the potential for confusion. Elegy (which may be traced to the Greek word elegos, “song of mourning”) commonly refers to a song or poem lamenting one who is dead; the word may also refer somewhat figuratively to a nostalgic poem, or to a kind of musical composition. While eulogy is also commonly found referring to words about the deceased, its basic meaning, both in English and in the Greek language from which it was borrowed, is “praise.” Formed from the Greek roots eu “good” and logos “speech,” a eulogy is an encomium given for one who is either living or dead. If you are praising your partner’s unsurpassed beauty or commending the virtues of the deceased at a funeral, you are delivering a eulogy; if you are composing a lamenting reminiscence about a person who has long since passed, you are writing an elegy.
Examples of elegy in a Sentence
Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Dec. 2024
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alba Rohrwacher, Pierfrancesco Favino and Valeria Golino round out the cast of this visually and emotionally rich biopic styled as an operatic elegy.
—Travis Bean, Forbes, 30 Nov. 2024
The mall is an elegy for what mid-20th-century politicians and progressives imagined downtown Los Angeles could be: a city with a vibrant core, accessible by freeways, anchored by a City Hall with encomiums inscribed above entrances exalting the public good.
—Thomas Curwen, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2024
One doubts there will be elegies concentrating on the trade of Wilfredo Lara or that this will one day be labeled Black Tuesday or the 6:00 Slaughter.
—Tim Britton, The Athletic, 31 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for elegy 
Dictionary Entries Near elegy
Cite this Entry
“Elegy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/elegy. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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elegy
noun
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