in Poetry, a kind of pastoral composition, wherein shepherds are introduced conversing together. The word is formed from the Greek εκλογή choice; so that, according to the etymology, eclogue should be no more than a select or choice piece; but custom has determined it to a farther signification, viz. a little elegant composition in a simple natural style and manner.

Idyllion and eclogue, in their primary intention, are the same thing: thus, the idyllia, ἀδυνάτων, of Theocritus, are pieces wrote perfectly in the same vein with the eclogae of Virgil. But custom has made a difference between them, and appropriated the name eclogue to pieces wherein shepherds are introduced speaking: idyllion, to those wrote like the eclogue, in a simple natural style, but without any shepherds in them.