elfin

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. adjective suggestive of an elf in strangeness and otherworldliness; ; - John Mason Brown
  2. adjective small and delicate
  3. adjective relating to or made or done by or as if by an elf

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”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

fey

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