elegant

adj 1: refined and tasteful in appearance or behavior or style;

"elegant handwriting"; "an elegant dark suit"; "she

was elegant to her fingertips"; "small churches with

elegant white spires"; "an elegant mathematical

solution--simple and precise and lucid" [ant: {inelegant}]

2: suggesting taste, ease, and wealth [syn: {graceful}, {refined}]

3: of seemingly effortless beauty in form or proportion

4: refined or imposing in manner or appearance; befitting a

royal court; "a courtly gentleman" [syn: {courtly}, {formal},

{stately}]

elegant

(From Mathematics) Combining simplicity, power, and a certain

ineffable grace of design. Higher praise than "clever",

"winning" or even {cuspy}.

The French aviator, adventurer, and author Antoine de

Saint-Exup'ery, probably best known for his classic children's

book "The Little Prince", was also an aircraft designer. He

gave us perhaps the best definition of engineering elegance

when he said "A designer knows he has achieved perfection not

when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing

left to take away."

[{Jargon File}]

(1994-11-29)