elf

Alternative forms

• elve (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English elf, elfe, from Old English ælf (“incubus, elf”), from Proto-Germanic *albiz.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ĕlf, IPA^(key): /ɛlf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlf

Noun

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.
   • Shakespeare

     Every elf, and fairy sprite, / Hop as light as bird from brier.

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.
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.

Verb

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. 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear

     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

• dark elf & light elf
• fairy
• brownie
• dwarf
• hobbit

References

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

Anagrams

• EFL

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛlf/

Numeral

elf

1. (cardinal) eleven

Noun

elf m (plural elfs)

1. elf

Noun

elf m

1. elf

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛl(ə)f/

• audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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

Anagrams

• fel
• lef

Etymology

Ultimately cognate to German elf.

Numeral

elf

1. eleven (11)

Alternative forms

• eilf, eilff, eylff (dated/obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔɛlf/

• audio

  (file)

Numeral

elf

1. (cardinal) eleven

Further reading

• elf in Duden online

Alternative forms

• eleve, ölve, ölven

Etymology

From Middle Low German elvene, from Old Saxon ellevan.

Numeral

elf

1. eleven

Etymology

From Arabic أَلْف‎ (ʾalf).

Numeral

elf m, f (pl elef)

1. thousand

Alternative forms

• elfe, helfe

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛlf/

Noun

elf (plural elves)

1. elf, fairy
2. spirit, shade

Etymology

Compare German elf, Dutch elf, English eleven.

Numeral

elf

1. (cardinal) eleven

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛlf/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

elf m anim (plural elfy)

1. elf, mythical or fantasy creature

This noun needs an inflection-table template.