elf

Meanings

Noun

• A luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of Álfheim (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy.
• 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.
• Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
• A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
• The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

Verb

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

Related

Similar words

• See goblin ; fairy

Narrower meaning words

• elfe
• elven
• wood elf, wood-elf

Origin

• 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"). oaf.