elven

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• General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈɛlv(ə)n/
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• rhymes with -ɛlvən
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From the attributive use of Middle English elven (“elf or fairy of either sex”) (see etymology 1), like English elfin, reinterpreted as elf + -en (suffix with the sense ‘pertaining to; having the qualities of; resembling’ forming adjectives). The word first appears in the English author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien’s works The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955): see the quotations.

PIE word *albhós Learned borrowing from Middle English elve, elven (“(also attributively) elf or fairy of either sex”) [and other forms], from Old English elfen, ælfen, ielfen (“female elf”), from elf, ælf, ielf (“elf”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *albiz (“elf, fairy”), from Proto-Indo-European *albhós (“white”)) + -en (suffix forming feminine nouns). The English word is cognate with Middle High German elbinne (“fairy, nymph”).

Probably a variant of elmen (“of or pertaining to an elm tree; composed of elm trees; made of elm wood”).

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: آلْفِيّ (ʔālfiyy) — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Czech: elfí — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Esperanto: elfa — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• French: elfique — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• German: elbisch — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Middle High German: elbisch — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Norwegian: alvisk — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Old English: ielfisċ — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Polish: elfi — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Portuguese: élfico — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Russian: эльфи́йский (elʹfíjskij) — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Spanish: élfico — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Swedish: alvisk — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike
• Ukrainian: ельфі́йський (elʹfíjsʹkyj) — belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves — see also elfin, elflike