Elegance

Etymology

From Latin "elegantia", from "elegans" (tasteful, refined), related to "eligere" (to pick out, select), from "e-" (out) and "legere" (to choose). Elegance is at root about choosing well — selecting exactly what is needed and nothing more.

noun · /EL-ih-gunss/
Graceful, refined effectiveness achieved with economy of means.
What it names
A specific kind of beauty — power through simplicity — prized alike in a proof, a dress, and a machine.
Example
The proof’s elegance was in doing in three lines what the textbook took two pages to grind out.
Related idea
Elegance is beauty that comes from economy and rightness of means; ornateness pursues beauty through addition and abundance — elegance impresses by how little it uses, not how much.