Swan - Harrold Country Park October 2009 (4061559567)

Gracefulness, or being graceful, is the physical characteristic of displaying "pretty agility", in the form of

elegant Elegance is beauty that shows unusual effectiveness and simplicity. Elegance is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in visual design, decorative arts, literature, science, and the aesthetics of mathematics. Elegant t ...

movement, poise, or

balance Balance or balancing may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance as in equality or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgarian ...

. The etymological root of ''grace'' is the Latin word ''gratia'' from ''gratus'', meaning pleasing.Little, William; Fowler H.W.; Coulson J.; Onions, C.T. (Ed.): "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principals". Pub.: Oxford at the Clarendon Press (1968) Gracefulness has been described by reference to its being aesthetically pleasing. For example,

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wrote: The difficulty in defining exactly what constitutes gracefulness is described in this analysis of

Henri Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopherHenri Bergson. 2014. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 13 August 2014, from https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/61856/Henri-Bergson

's use of the term: Gracefulness is often referenced by

simile A simile () is a figure of speech that directly ''compares'' two things. Similes differ from other metaphors by highlighting the similarities between two things using comparison words such as "like", "as", "so", or "than", while other metaphors cr ...

, with people often being described as being "as graceful as a

swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

", or "as graceful as a

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

". The concept of gracefulness is applied both to movement, and to inanimate objects. For example, certain trees are commonly referred to as being "graceful", such as the ''

Betula albosinensis ''Betula albosinensis'', the Chinese red birch, syn. ''B. bhojpattra'' var. ''sinensis'', ''B. utilis'' var. ''sinensis'', is a species of birch in the family Betulaceae, native to Western China. It is a deciduous tree growing to . A particular f ...

'', ''

Prunus × yedoensis ''Prunus'' × ''yedoensis'' (synonym ''Cerasus'' × ''yedoensis'') is a hybrid cherry tree between ''Prunus speciosa'' (''Oshima cherry'') as father plant and ''Prunus pendula'' f. ''ascendens'' (syn. ''Prunus itosakura'', ''Prunus subhirte ...

'' (Yoshino cherry), and ''

Areca catechu ''Areca catechu'' is a species of palm which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. The palm is believed to have originated in the Philippines, but is widespread in cultivation and is considered naturalized in sou ...

'' (betel-nut palm). Gracefulness is sometimes confused with

gracility Gracility is slenderness, the condition of being gracile, which means slender. It derives from the Latin adjective ''gracilis'' (masculine or feminine), or ''gracile'' ( neuter), which in either form means slender, and when transferred for examp ...

, or

slenderness In architecture, the slenderness ratio, or simply slenderness, is an aspect ratio, the quotient between the height and the width of a building. In structural engineering, slenderness is used to calculate the propensity of a column to buckle. It ...

, although the latter word is derived from a different root, the Latin adjective ''gracilis'' (

masculine Masculinity (also called manhood or manliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles associated with men and boys. Masculinity can be theoretically understood as socially constructed, and there is also evidence that some behaviors con ...

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

), or ''gracile'' ( neuter)Gray, Mason D., Jenkins, Thornton; “Latin for Today, Book 2”; Pub: Ginn and Co., Ltd. (1934) which in either form means slender, and when transferred for example to discourse, takes the sense of "without ornament", "simple", or various similar

connotation A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation. A connotation is frequently described as either positive o ...

s. The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary remarks of gracility, for example: ''Recently misused (through association with grace) for Gracefully slender.'' This misuse is unfortunate at least, because the terms ''gracile'' and ''grace'' are completely unrelated: the etymological root of ''grace'' is the Latin word ''gratia'' from ''gratus'', meaning pleasing and nothing to do with slenderness or thinness.Little, William; Fowler H.W.; Coulson J.; Onions, C.T. (Ed.): "Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principals". Pub.: Oxford at the Clarendon Press (1968).

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