elegiacum

Elegiacum is a Latin term meaning “of elegy” or “elegiac,” typically used as the neuter singular form of the adjective elegiacus. In Latin literature it appears most often as part of phrases describing poetry or meter, rather than as a standalone concept. Common usages include carmen elegiacum (an elegiac poem) and versu elegiaco or modo elegiaco (in the elegiac meter or in the elegiac manner).

Etymology and form: elegiacus derives from the Greek elegos, and the Latin form elegiacum functions as a grammatical adjective that can modify nouns such as carmen or versum. In classical texts, the phrase carmen elegiacum is idiomatic for a poem composed in the traditional elegiac couplet, though the exact syntax can vary with author and manuscript.

Usage in literary history: The term is tied to the broader tradition of the Roman elegy, a poetic genre characterized by the elegiac couplet, typically employed for themes of love, personal reflection, and occasional lament. Poets such as Tibullus, Propertius, and Ovid wrote extensively in this meter, and modern editors may describe their works as carmina elegiaca or as poetry written in the elegiac pace and rhyme.

Modern scholarship: In cataloging Latin poetry, scholars may encounter elegiacum as part of descriptive phrases in editions and commentaries. The word itself does not denote a separate genre but signals the elegiacate quality of a poem or its meter when used in context.

See also: elegy, elegiac couplet, elegiac meter, Latin poetry, Latin literature.