elf

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See also: Elf and ELF

English[edit]

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
An elf drawn by Piedachu Peris

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Ultimately probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (white). Doublet of oaf.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • enPR: ĕlf, IPA(key): /ɛlf/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛlf

Noun[edit]

elf (plural elves)

  1. (Norse mythology) A luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of Álfheim (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy.
  2. Any from a race of mythical, supernatural beings resembling but seen as distinct from human beings. They are usually delicate-featured and skilled in magic or spellcrafting; sometimes depicted as clashing with dwarves, especially in modern fantasy literature.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, H.L. Brækstad, transl., Folk and Fairy Tales, page 281:
      All the fairy tales of my childhood were conjured up before my startled imagination, and appeared to be realised in the forms which surrounded me; I saw the whole forest filled with trolls, elves, and sporting dwarfs.
  3. (fantasy) Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
  4. A very diminutive person; a dwarf[1].
  5. (South Africa) The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

Synonyms[edit]

  • (supernatural creature): See goblin (hostile); fairy (small, mischievous)

Hyponyms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • Arabic: إِلْف(ʔilf)
  • Dutch: elf
  • French: elfe
  • German: Elf, Elfe
  • Japanese: エルフ (erufu)
  • Korean: 엘프 (elpeu)

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

elf (third-person singular simple present elfs, present participle elfing, simple past and past participle elfed)

  1. (now rare) To twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.
    • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      My face I'll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, and with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  • Marshall Jones Company (1930). Mythology of All Races Series, Volume 2 Eddic, Great Britain: Marshall Jones Company, 1930, pp. 220-221.

Anagrams[edit]

Afrikaans[edit]

Afrikaans cardinal numbers
<  10 11 12  >
    Cardinal : elf
    Ordinal : elfde

Etymology[edit]

From Dutch elf, from Middle Dutch ellef, elf, from Old Dutch *ellef, from Proto-Germanic *ainalif.

Pronunciation[edit]

Numeral[edit]

elf

  1. eleven

Bavarian[edit]

Bavarian numbers (edit)
←  10 11 12  →
    Cardinal: elf

Alternative forms[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Numeral[edit]

elf

  1. eleven

Catalan[edit]

Noun[edit]

elf m (plural elfs)

  1. elf

Czech[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

elf m

  1. elf

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • elf in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • elf in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle Dutch ellef, elf, from Old Dutch *ellef, from Proto-Germanic *ainalif, a compound of *ainaz and *-lif. Compare German elf, West Frisian alve, English eleven, Danish elleve.

Numeral[edit]

Dutch numbers (edit)
←  10 11 12  →
    Cardinal: elf
    Ordinal: elfde

elf

  1. eleven

Noun[edit]

elf f (plural elven, diminutive elfje n)

  1. The number eleven, or a representation thereof.
Descendants[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Borrowed from German Elf, itself borrowed from English elf, from Old English ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Displaced native alf, from the same Germanic source.

Noun[edit]

elf m (plural elfen or elven, diminutive elfje n, feminine elve or elfin)

  1. elf, brownie (small folkloric creature)
  2. (fantasy) elf (humanoid pointy-eared creature in fantasy)
Synonyms[edit]
  • (mythical being): alf
Derived terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
  • Papiamentu: èlfye (from the diminutive)

Anagrams[edit]

Dutch Low Saxon[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Low German, from Middle Low German elvene, from Old Saxon ellevan. Related to German elf.

Numeral[edit]

elf

  1. eleven (11)

German[edit]

German numbers (edit)
←  10 11 12  →
    Cardinal: elf
    Ordinal: elfte
    Sequence adverb: elftens
    Ordinal abbreviation: 11.
    Adverbial: elfmal
    Adverbial abbreviation: 11-mal
    Multiplier: elffach
    Multiplier abbreviation: 11-fach
    Fractional: Elftel
    Polygon: Elfeck
    Polygon abbreviation: 11-Eck
    Polygonal adjective: elfeckig
    Polygonal adjective abbreviation: 11-eckig
German Wikipedia article on 11

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle High German eilf, eilef, einlif, from Old High German einlif, from Proto-Germanic *ainalif, a compound of *ainaz and *-lif. Until the 19th century usually written eilf; the monophthongal form is of Central and Low German origin (Middle Low German elf). Compare Dutch elf, West Frisian alve, English eleven, Danish elleve.

Pronunciation[edit]

Numeral[edit]

elf

  1. (cardinal number) eleven

Coordinate terms[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • elf” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
  • elf” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
  • elf” in Duden online
  • elf on the German Wikipedia.Wikipedia de

German Low German[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle Low German elvene, from Old Saxon ellevan.

Numeral[edit]

elf

  1. eleven

Lombard[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From English elf.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɛlf/
  • Hyphenation: elf

Noun[edit]

elf m (masculine plural elf, feminine singular elfa, feminine plural elfe) (New Lombard Orthography)

  1. (Norse mythology) elf
  2. (fantasy) elf

Derived terms[edit]

Maltese[edit]

Maltese numbers (edit)
10,000
←  100 ←  900 1,000 2,000  → 10,000  →
100
    Cardinal: elf

Etymology[edit]

From Arabic أَلْف(ʔalf).

Pronunciation[edit]

Numeral[edit]

elf m or f (dual elfejn, plural eluf or elufijiet, paucal elef)

  1. thousand

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Old English elf, Anglian form of ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós (white).

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

elf (plural elves)

  1. elf, fairy
    • c. 1450, Wars of Alexander[1], Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, passus 24, line 5258:
      Scho was so faire & so fresche · as faucon hire semed, / An elfe out of an-othire erde · or ellis an Aungell
      She was so fair and beautiful; her elegance seemed like / An elf out of another world, or else an angel.
    • c. 1450, “The Second Shepherds' Play”, in The Towneley Plays[2], Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, line 616:
      he was takyn with an elfe / I saw it myself / when the clok stroke twelf / was he forshapyn
      He was taken by an elf; I saw it myself. / When the clock struck twelve, he was transfigured.
  2. spirit, shade

Related terms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • English: elf (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: elf
  • Yola: elf

References[edit]

Pennsylvania German[edit]

Pennsylvania German cardinal numbers
<  10 11 12  >
    Cardinal : elf
    Ordinal : elft

Etymology[edit]

From Rhine Franconian, from Old High German einlif. Compare German elf, Dutch elf, English eleven.

Pronunciation[edit]

Numeral[edit]

elf

  1. eleven

Polish[edit]

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from German Elf.

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

elf m anim (diminutive elfik)

  1. elf (mythical or fantasy creature)

Usage notes[edit]

The plural for the Tolkien creatures is usually elfowie.

Declension[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

adjective

Further reading[edit]

  • elf in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • elf in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From French elfe.

Noun[edit]

elf m (plural elfi)

  1. elf

Declension[edit]

Yola[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi.

Noun[edit]

elf (plural elvès)

  1. fairy

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 38