ELFING

Verb

elfing

present participle of elf

Source: Wiktionary


ELF

Elf, n.; pl. Elves. Etym: [AS. ælf, ylf; akin to MHG. alp, G. alp nightmare, incubus, Icel. elf, Sw. alf, elfva; cf. Skr. rbhu 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 (Zoöl.), a small owl (Micrathene Whitneyi) of Southern California and Arizona.

Elf, v. t.

Definition: To entangle mischievously, as an elf might do. Elf all my hair in knots. Shak.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

22 February 2025

ANALYSIS

(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’


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