elfin
/ˈɛlfɪn/ noun, adjective
Forms elfins
- noun An elf; an inhabitant of fairy-land.
- noun A little urchin or child.
- noun Any of the butterflies in the subgenus Incisalia of the North American lycaenid genus Callophrys.
- adjective Of or relating to elves.
- adjective Resembling an elf or elves, especially in tiny size or features.
Synonyms
Etymology
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”).
Partly from attributive use of Etymology 1, but reanalysed by Edmund Spenser as if equivalent to elf + -in. Compare elven (adjective), elvan.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “elfin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details