elfin
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɛlfɪn/
- Rhymes: -ɛlfɪn
Etymology 1
From Middle English elven, from Old English elfen, ælfen (“nymph, spirit, fairy”), feminine of elf, ælf (“elf”), equivalent to elf + -in. Cognate with Middle High German elbinne (“a fairy, nymph”).
Noun
elfin (plural elfins)
- An elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land.
- A little urchin or child.
- Any of the butterflies in the subgenus Incisalia of the North American lycaenid genus Callophrys.
Etymology 2
Partly from attributive use of Etymology 1, but reanalysed by Spenser as if equivalent to elf + -in. Compare elven (adj), elvan.
Adjective
elfin (comparative more elfin, superlative most elfin)
- Relating to or resembling an elf or elves, especially in its tiny size or features.
- 1914, Louis Joseph Vance, “Anarchy”, in Nobody, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, published 1915, OCLC 40817384, page 33:
- Three chairs of the steamer type, all maimed, comprised the furniture of this roof-garden, with […] on one of the copings a row of four red clay flower-pots filled with sun-baked dust from which gnarled and rusty stalks thrust themselves up like withered elfin limbs.
- 2012 May 24, Nathan Rabin, “Film: Reviews: Men In Black 3”, in The Onion AV Club:
- He’s forced to travel back to 1969 to prevent an evil alien (a shockingly effective, nearly unrecognizable Jemaine Clement of Flight Of The Conchords, playing sort of a psychotic extraterrestrial-biker serial killer) from destroying the world by killing Brolin. Smith is aided in his quest by an elfin, time-jumping alien with psychic powers played by another Coen brothers veteran, A Serious Man star Michael Stuhlbarg.
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Synonyms
- see list in elven
Derived terms
- elfin saddle
- elfin safety
- elfin wood
- Williams elfin facies syndrome
Translations
elven — see elven
Anagrams
- lifen, nifle
Dutch
Alternative forms
- elvin
Etymology
From elf + -in.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛlˈfɪn/
- Hyphenation: el‧fin
- Rhymes: -ɪn
Noun
elfin f (plural elfinnen, diminutive elfinnetje n, masculine elf)
- A female elf (fantasy humanoid).