elven

Meanings

1. Originally, a female elf, a fairy, a nymph; (by extension) any elf.

1. Belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves; elfin, elflike.

1. An elm (a tree of the genus Ulmus, particularly the wych elm or Scots elm (Ulmus glabra))).

Etymology

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”).