elfin

elfin · noun¹

1. Old English · inherited fromelfen
2. Middle English · inherited fromelven
3. English todayelfin

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”).

elfin · adjective²

Partly from attributive use of Etymology 1, but reanalysed by Edmund Spenser as if equivalent to elf + -in. Compare elven (adjective), elvan.

Words from the same roots