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elf
11 dictionary results for: elf
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
elf       [elf] Pronunciation Key
–noun, plural elves       [elvz] Pronunciation Key.
1.(in folklore) one of a class of preternatural beings, esp. from mountainous regions, with magical powers, given to capricious and often mischievous interference in human affairs, and usually imagined to be a diminutive being in human form; sprite; fairy.
2.a diminutive person, esp. a child.
3.a mischievous person, esp. a child.

[Origin: bef. 1000; ME, back formation from elven, OE elfen nymph (i.e., female elf), var. of ælfen; see elfin]

elflike, adjective

1. See fairy.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
elf       (ělf)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   pl. elves (ělvz)
  1. A small, often mischievous creature considered to have magical powers.
    1. A lively, mischievous child.
    2. A usually sprightly or mischievous or sometimes spiteful person.


[Middle English, from Old English ælf; see albho- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
ELF  
abbr.   extremely low frequency

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
extremely low frequency  
n.   Abbr. ELF
A radio frequency below 300 hertz.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
elf 
"race of powerful supernatural beings in Gmc. folklore," O.E. elf, ælf, from P.Gmc. *albiz, origin unknown, possibly from PIE *albho- "white." A popular component in Anglo-Saxon names, many of which survive as modern given names and surnames, cf. Ælfræd "Elf-counsel" (Alfred), Ælfwine "Elf-friend" (Alvin), Ælfric "Elf-ruler" (Eldridge), also women's names such as Ælfflæd "Elf-beauty." Elf Lock hair tangled, especially by Queen Mab, "which it was not fortunate to disentangle" [according to Robert Nares' glossary of Shakespeare] is from 1592. Elvish (adj.) attested from c.1340.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
elf

noun
1. (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous 
2. below 3 kilohertz [syn: extremely low frequency

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

ELF
Binary format used by System V Release 4 Unix.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Elf

Elf\ ([e^]lf), n.; pl. Elves ([e^]lvz). [AS. [ae]lf, ylf; akin to MHG. alp, G. alp nightmare, incubus, Icel. [=a]lfr elf, Sw. alf, elfva; cf. Skr. [.r]bhu skillful, artful, rabh to grasp. Cf. Auf, Oaf.]

1. An imaginary supernatural being, commonly a little sprite, much like a fairy; a mythological diminutive spirit, supposed to haunt hills and wild places, and generally represented as delighting in mischievous tricks.

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

2. A very diminutive person; a dwarf.

Elf arrow, a flint arrowhead; -- so called by the English rural folk who often find these objects of prehistoric make in the fields and formerly attributed them to fairies; -- called also elf bolt, elf dart, and elf shot.

Elf child, a child supposed to be left by elves, in room of one they had stolen. See Changeling.

Elf fire, the ignis fatuus. --Brewer.

Elf owl (Zo["o]l.), a small owl (Micrathene Whitneyi) of Southern California and Arizona.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Elf

Elf\, v. t. To entangle mischievously, as an elf might do.

Elf all my hair in knots. --Shak.

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