Elegie

[eleˈɡiː]

/[eleˈɡiː]/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“Elegie” is uncommon German (frequency #76,709 among 4,632 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#76,709
frequency rank, German
4,632
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Gedicht mit einem traurigen, klagenden Thema und in oftmals schwermütiger Stimmung respektive im Ton wehmütiger Klage verfasst, früher auch in Distichen/Verspaaren verfasst

Corpus desk

Index DE-elegie · Elegie · German

Elegie · rank #76,709 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #76,709
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,632
  • PHOTO-FINISH ekelhaftes

Nearest frequency peer: ekelhaftes (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Langschwanz-Ränge nahe „Elegie“

Dünnes Band: Balken invertieren den Rang, seltenere Formen wirken kürzer

corpus weight

What this shows Langschwanz-Sicht: wo „Elegie“ gegen ähnlich seltene deutsche Ränge sitzt.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Elegie
PropertyValue
HeadwordElegie
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[eleˈɡiː]
Letters6
Frequency rank#76,709
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Elegie“ im Deutschen

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Elegiefällt in diesen Seltenheitsbereich:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Seltene Nachbarn derselben Bandbreite: „ekelhaftes“ (#76,708), „Eisvogel“ (#76,707), „elevator“ (#76,711). Unter 4,632 „E“-Lemmata liegt „Elegie“ bei #76,709. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Elegie is uncommon German at frequency #76,709 among 4,632 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [eleˈɡiː]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Elegie, suggesting the orthography follows predictable German patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct German form is Elegie, spelled E-L-E-G-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Gedicht mit einem traurigen, klagenden Thema und in oftmals schwermütiger Stimmung respektive im Ton wehmütiger Klage verfasst, früher auch in Distichen/Verspaaren verfasst
  2. 2
    wehmütige (elegische) Stimmung

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Elegie appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Die „Römischen Elegien“ wurden von Goethe verfasst.
  2. Gottfried Benn hat seine „Stadthallen-Elegien“ auf der Rückseite von Speisekarten der Stadthalle Hannover im Jahr 1935 verfasst. „Astern“ ist wohl das berühmteste Gedicht aus diesem Zyklus.

Synonyms

Klagegedicht

Antonyms

OdeEuphorie

This word in other languages

elegy(English)elegía(Español)élégie(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Elegie"?
"Elegie" is spelled E-L-E-G-I-E. The IPA pronunciation is [eleˈɡiː].
What does "Elegie" mean?
As a noun, "Elegie" means: Gedicht mit einem traurigen, klagenden Thema und in oftmals schwermütiger Stimmung respektive im Ton wehmütiger Klage verfasst, früher auch in Distichen/Verspaaren verfasst
How do you pronounce "Elegie"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Elegie" is [eleˈɡiː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Elegie" come from?
"Elegie" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Elegie", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fernes#76,762crying#76,653Cracks#76,650clutch#76,645

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list