elf

Etymology
From, from , , from , from. Ultimately probably derived from. .

Noun

 * 1)  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.
 * 3)  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.
 * 5)  The bluefish.
 * 1) 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.
 * 2)  Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
 * 3) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 4)  The bluefish.
 * 1) 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.
 * 2)  Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
 * 3) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 4)  The bluefish.
 * 1) 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.
 * 2)  Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
 * 3) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 4)  The bluefish.
 * 1) 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.
 * 2)  Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
 * 3) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 4)  The bluefish.
 * 1) 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.
 * 2)  Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
 * 3) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 4)  The bluefish.
 * 1)  Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
 * 2) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 3)  The bluefish.
 * 1) A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
 * 2)  The bluefish.

Usage notes
The plural has always been more common than. Elfs was notably used by (1579?; 1590; as ),  (1594; as elfes),  (1657), William Cleland (a. 1690),  (1700),  (1717),  (1850),  (1868),  (1877), and  (1905). Some writers, including (1760) and James Sibbald (1802), provided both plurals. Elfs was first listed as an alternative plural in  in 1818; others such as James Knowles’s A Pronouncing and Explanatory Dictionary of the English Language (1835), James Bamford’s Elements of English Grammar (1844), and Henry Elliot Shepherd’s A Grammar of the English Language (1883) followed; but it gradually decreased in use and is now mostly   considered nonstandard.

Synonyms

 * See ' ; '

Related terms

 * elfin, elven, elvan
 * elvish

Translations

 * Afrikaans:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech: álf
 * Danish: elver
 * Finnish: valohaltia
 * French:
 * Galician: elfo
 * Italian:
 * Latin: alfus
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål:
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian: альв,
 * Sicilian: erfu, erfa
 * Spanish: elfo
 * Swedish:, ,
 * Ukrainian: альв, ельф


 * Afrikaans:
 * Arabic:
 * Bavarian: Åip
 * Bulgarian:
 * Catalan:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech:
 * Danish:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Esperanto:
 * Estonian:
 * Finnish:, , , ,
 * French:, ,
 * Galician: ouva
 * Georgian: ელფი
 * German:, , , , , ; , ,
 * Middle High German: elbe, alb, alp
 * Greek:
 * Hebrew:
 * Hindi:, , एल्फ, एल्फ़
 * Hungarian:, , ,
 * Icelandic:
 * Irish:, ealbh
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: ,
 * Korean: ,
 * Latin: alfus
 * Latvian:, elfa
 * Lithuanian: elfas, elfė
 * Macedonian: ви́леник, џу́џе, елф
 * Maltese: nanu,
 * Marathi: एल्फ
 * Norwegian:
 * Old English: ielf
 * Old High German: alp
 * Old Norse: álfr
 * Old Saxon: alf
 * Persian: ,
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian:
 * Russian:
 * Scots: eemock
 * Scottish Gaelic: sìthiche, luspardan, tàcharan
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: патуљак, вилељак
 * Roman: ,
 * Sicilian: erfu, donni di casa
 * Slovak: škriatok
 * Spanish: elfo,
 * Swahili: kibwengo
 * Turkish:
 * Ukrainian: ельф


 * Afrikaans:
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * Galician: ouva
 * Hungarian: ,
 * Italian:
 * Latin: alfus
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:
 * Sicilian: erfu
 * Spanish: elfo
 * Swedish:

Verb

 * 1)  To twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.

Etymology
From, from , , from , from.

Numeral

 * 1)  eleven

Etymology 1
From, , from , from , a compound of and. Compare 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Numeral

 * 1)  eleven

Noun

 * 1) The number eleven, or a representation thereof.

Etymology 2
Borrowed from, itself borrowed from , from , from , from. Displaced native, from the same Germanic source.

Noun

 * 1) elf, brownie small folkloric creature
 * 2)   humanoid pointy-eared creature in fantasy

Etymology
From, from , from. Related to 🇨🇬.

Numeral

 * 1) eleven (11)

Etymology
From, , , from , from , a compound of and. Until the 19th century usually written ; the monophthongal form is of Central and Low German origin. Compare 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Numeral

 * 1)  eleven

Etymology
From, from.

Numeral

 * 1) eleven

Etymology
From.

Noun

 * 1)  elf
 * 2)  elf

Etymology
From.

Numeral

 * 1) thousand

Etymology
From, Anglian form of , from , from , from.

Noun

 * , fairy
 * 1) spirit, shade
 * 1) spirit, shade
 * 1) spirit, shade

Etymology
From, from. Compare 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬, 🇨🇬.

Numeral

 * 1)  eleven

Etymology
.

Etymology
.

Etymology
From, from , from.

Noun

 * 1) fairy