élan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "elan"

English

Alternative forms

• elan

Etymology

Borrowed from French élan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪˈlɑːn/, /eɪˈlæn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːn, -æn

Noun

élan (countable and uncountable, plural élans)

1. Spirit; zeal; ardor.
   • 1916, Booth Tarkington, Penrod and Sam, page 197:

     Sam, carried away by the élan of the performance, was unable to resist joining them.

   • 1971, Deborah S. Davis, “The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan”, in The Cultural Revolution in the Provinces‎^[1], Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 159:

     The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to radicalize the whole society, to create mass participation at all levels of decision-making, and to restore the revolutionary élan of the 1940s.

   • 2012 March 4, Alice Rawsthorn, “Farewell, Pocket Calculator?”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     A pocket calculator was the closest that most 1970s consumers came to owning anything with computational power, even if all it could do was basic math. Those tiny gizmos seemed enticing because they offered rare glimpses into the enigmatic world of technology, and the Sinclair Executive also had the élan of being the first one.

2. Grace; style (especially apparently effortless).
   • 2001 10, Daniel Alef, Pale Truth, Titans of Fortune Publishing, →ISBN, page 189:

     Mary Ellen had never seen any woman, with the exception of Abigail, take such an active role in the company of men, though Abigail did it with élan and never directly or conspicuously.

   • 2018 November 1, Anthony Horowitz, quoting Booklist, The Sentence is Death: A mind-bending murder mystery from the bestselling author of THE WORD IS MURDER, Random House, →ISBN:

     Despite [the] Holmesian frame story, the overall voice of the series is fresh and original, Horowitz writing with the effortless élan that distinguishes all of his work.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with eland, the name of two African antelopes.

Related terms

• élan vital
• lance, lancet

Translations

spirit, zeal

• Dutch: elan
• Finnish: into (fi), säpinä, kiihko (fi), palo (fi)
• French: élan (fr) m
• German: Elan (de) m
• Māori: matangareka, wana, rika, whitawhita
• Portuguese: elã (pt) m, élan (pt) m
• Romanian: elan (ro) n
• Swedish: stil och fart, schvung (sv), geist (sv)

Anagrams

• lane, Lena, enal, lean, Lean, Nale, Neal, Lane, Alne, nale, Alen, neal

Dutch

Noun

élan n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. alternative spelling of elan

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.lɑ̃/

  • Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

    (file)

  • Audio (France (Vosges)):

    (file)

• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): [e.lɑ̃]
• Homophone: élans

Etymology 1

Deverbal from élancer (“to throw oneself at”). (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Does the Louisiana sense come from the same?”)

Noun

élan m (Louisiana) m or f (plural élans)

1. spirit, verve
2. fervor, passion
   • 2018, Constance Debré, chapter 3, in Play boy, Paris: Stock, →ISBN, part 3, page 145:

     Il y a bien des élans avec elle, au café, dehors, quand rien ne peut arriver.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. momentum

   Il prend son élan. ― He is gaining momentum.

4. (sports) run up
5. (Louisiana) uncertain period of time, a while, a spell
   • 2010, Albert Valdman, et al., Dictionary of Louisiana French as Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities, page 466:

     Tu devrais bien arrêter de pirouetter tout partout pour un élan et m’écouter.

     You ought to stop pirouetting around for a while and listen to me.

Derived terms

• course d’élan
• dans un élan
• prendre son élan
• un bon élan

Descendants

• → Czech: elán
• → Dutch: elan
  • → Indonesian: elan
• → English: élan
• → German: Elan
• → Portuguese: elã, élan
• → Romanian: elan
• → Slovak: elán

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Elen, Elend, from Middle High German eln, elent, of uncertain origin. Possibly from a Baltic language (compare Lithuanian élnias and Latvian alnis), from Proto-Balto-Slavic *elenias, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁el-h₁en (“red deer, elk”). Compare also Armenian եղնիկ (eġnik) and Proto-Slavic *elỳ (“deer”) whence also Bulgarian еле́н (elén), Polish jeleń and Ukrainian о́лень (ólenʹ).

Alternatively, Middle High German eln, elent, may derive from Old High German elho, elaho, a weak stem form of Proto-Germanic *elhaz (“elk”). More at English elk.

Noun

élan m (plural élans)

1. moose, elk

Derived terms

• chien d’élan gris
• chien d’élan noir
• chien d’élan norvégien gris
• chien d’élan norvégien noir
• chien d’élan suédois
• corail corne d’élan

Further reading

• “élan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012
• Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities (2009; →ISBN; →ISBN)

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French élan.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.lɐ̃/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.lɐn/

• Hyphenation: é‧lan

Noun

élan m (plural élans)

1. alternative form of elã

Further reading

• “élan”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026