elegancyn.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1871) III. 353 (MED) Oftetymes those ij men be equiuocate..for the elegancy [L. elegantiam] of speche.

1531 T. Elyot Bk. named Gouernour i. xiv. sig. Hi^v The elegancie of poetes.

1572 J. Jones Bathes of Bathes Ayde i. f. 1^v Tullie cheefe of all latyne elegancy.

a1613 E. Brerewood Enq. Lang. & Relig. (1614) ii. 8 The Greeke tongue is very much decayed, not onely as touching the largnesse, and vulgarnesse of it, but also in the purenesse and elegancy of the language.

1665 J. Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 162 Some judgment might be made concerning the elegancy of the style.

1708 T. Sprat in Ann. Misc. 1694 (ed. 2) 314 To thee the English Tongue doth owe; That it need not seek, For Elegancy from the round-Mouth'd Greek.

1746 Ld. Chesterfield Let. 3 Feb. (1932) (modernized text) III. 726 The purity, and the elegancy of his [sc. Demosthenes's] language.

1800 Anti-Jacobin Rev. & Mag. July 275 To translate it with elegancy, an intimate acquaintance with the translator's own language and refined taste is required.

1822 London Lit. Gaz. 26 Oct. 679/2 The unhappy author, indeed, appears to have some qualms about the elegancy of his style.

1913 Classical Weekly 7 77/1 The writers of Greece and Rome rose to preeminence in precision of thought and elegancy of expression.

1534 N. Udall Floures for Latine Spekynge gathered oute of Terence f. 41 Laurentius Vallensis in the first boke of his elegancies and the .16. chapitre sayth [etc.].

1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xxxiv. 635 They count Greek phrases for an elegancie.

1622 J. Brinsley Consol. Gram. School 54 Obseruing the Elegancies of Rhetoricke in Tropes and Figures.

1776 E. Jones tr. Cicero Orator in tr. Cicero Brutus 351 Formerly it was esteemed an elegancy, though it would now be considered as a rusticism, to omit the s in all words which terminate in us.

1865 H. Emanuel Diamonds & Precious Stones Pref. p. iv Compiled in the manner stated, and notwithstanding the absence of literary elegancies, the writer cannot but think his book will prove useful to the merchant.

1986 Amer. Scholar 65 500 He warned..against adding to the already large number of monosyllables such elegancies as phizz and hipps.

?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Harl. 2261) (1876) VI. 79 (MED) The luffe of the cuntre and elegancy voluptuous [L. voluptas elegantiae] deceyvide his grevous labors.

1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Elegancye, elegantia.

1571 E. Grant tr. Plutarch President for Parentes sig. U.vii To require renoume by the superfluous elegancie of garments, is a dishonest thing.

1634 H. Peacham Compl. Gentleman (new ed.) xii. 107 It is a hard matter to light upon any there, that are not headlesse and lame, most of them venerable for their antiquitie and elegancy.

1672 N. Grew Anat. Veg. iv. 115 Two general advantages to the Leaves, Elegancy and Security.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela (ed. 2) II. 360 An Elegancy [1740 Elegance] ran through every thing, Persons as well as Furniture.

1768 A. Catcott Treat. Deluge (ed. 2) 407 Neither do the fossil reliquiæ..yield in elegancy..to the medalic insignatures.

1838 R. W. Emerson Milton in N. Amer. Rev. July 68 He threw himself, the flower of elegancy, on the side of the reeking conventicle.

1867 Monthly Homœopathic Rev. 11 580 Artists have succeeded in producing pictures of plants which well represent the elegancy of their forms.

1943 Pennsylvania Mag. Hist. & Biogr. 67 37 People of means and a taste for elegancy often had Nanking china bathtubs.

2012 Zacks Investm. Res. (Nexis) 5 June The newly renovated hotel embodies the combination of modern elegancy and historical legacy.

1673 J. Dryden Marriage a-la-Mode iv. i. 53 Instruct your wife's Woman in these elegancies.

1709 D. Manley Secret Mem. 108 Your Craw-fish, Soups, Olios, Terren, Fricacies, and other Elegancies of the table.

1823 C. Lamb Praise of Chimney-sweepers in Elia 251 Palates..not uninstructed in dietetical elegancies.

1874 E. B. Pusey Lenten Serm. 41 We must..have this or that elegancy..according to our condition of life.

1919 Lima (Ohio) Daily News 21 May 3 They display those little subtleties and elegancies of designing which women appreciate seeing in a suit.

1953 E. Gormanston Little Kept iii. 46 Elizabeth..pounced upon and wore the discarded elegancies.

1998 A. Lovejoy Tea Gardens i. 14 In some ways, the convivial elegancies of afternoon tea belong to the past.