Adjacent Words

Eclogue definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

EC'LOGUE, n. ec'log. [Gr. choice, to select.] Literally, a select piece. Hence, in poetry, a pastoral composition, in which shepherds are introduced conversing with each other, as the eclogues of Virgil; or it is a little elegant composition in a simple natural style and manner. An eclogue differs from an idyllion, in being appropriated to pieces in which shepherds are introduced.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a short poem descriptive of rural or pastoral life [syn: eclogue, bucolic, idyll, idyl]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English eclog, from Latin Eclogae, title of Virgil's pastorals, literally, selections, plural of ecloga, from Greek eklog?, from eklegein to select Date: 15th century a poem in which shepherds converse

Britannica Concise

Short, usually pastoral, poem in the form of a dialogue or soliloquy (see pastoral). The eclogue as a pastoral form first appeared in the idylls of Theocritus, was adopted by Virgil, and was revived in the Renaissance by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. E. Spenser's Shepheardes Calender, a series of 12 eclogues, was the first outstanding pastoral poem in English. 18th-cent. English poets used the eclogue for ironic verse on nonpastoral subjects. Since then a distinction has been made between eclogue and pastoral, with eclogue referring only to the dialogue or soliloquy form.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a short poem, esp. a pastoral dialogue. Etymology: L ecloga f. Gk ekloge selection f. eklego pick out

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Eclogue Ec"logue, n. [L. ecloga, Gr. ? a selection, choice extracts, fr. ? to pick out, choose out; ? out + ? to gather, choose: cf. F. ['e]gloque, ['e]cloque. See Ex-, and Legend.] A pastoral poem, in which shepherds are introduced conversing with each other; a bucolic; an idyl; as, the Ecloques of Virgil, from which the modern usage of the word has been established.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Bucolic, idyl, pastoral, pastoral poem.