iligantadj.
/ˈɪlᵻɡənt/, U.S. /ˈɪləɡənt/, Irish English /ˈɪləɡənt/ Irish English (and used as an Irishism).
= elegant adj. 8.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > good taste > refinement > elegance > [adjective]
featousc1400
elegantc1475
neat1546
genteel1688
iligant1819
elegantish1830
concinnous1831
1819 M. Wilmot Let. 3 Sept. (1935) 16 An illigant black silk dress.
1822 M. Edgeworth Let. 4 Mar. (1971) 361 We have an excellent job landau..and quite iligant coachman horses and all—for one pound per day.
1833 C. Dickens Let. ?19–20 Apr. (1965) I. 20 I..will not give you the trouble of deciphering any more of my iligant writing.
1846 Punch 11 79 A large assortment of most iligant blunderbuss's.
1888 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 277 An' it looked an iligant counthry an' all in a glimmerin' green.
1898 J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 21 It was agreed on all hands that he was ‘an illigant corpse, and as foine a bhoy as ever was stretched’.
1939 J. Joyce Finnegans Wake i. 14 She found hersell sackvulle of..small illigant brogues, so rich in sweat.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1819