different between else vs elf

English

Etymology

From Middle English ells, elles, from Old English elles (“other, otherwise, different”), from Proto-West Germanic *alljas, from Proto-Germanic *aljas (“of another, of something else”), genitive of *aljaz (“other”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?élyos, from *h?el- (“other”).

Cognate with Old Frisian elles (“other”), Old High German elles, ellies (“other”), Danish eller (“or”), Danish ellers (“otherwise”), Swedish eljes, eljest (“or else, otherwise”), Norwegian elles (“else, otherwise”), Gothic ???????????????????? (aljis, “other”), Latin alius (“other, another”), Ancient Greek ????? (állos), Arcadocypriot ????? (aîlos), modern Greek ?????? (alliós, “otherwise, else”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /?ls/
• (colloquial) IPA^(key): /?lts/
• Rhymes: -?ls

Adjective

else (not comparable)

1. (postpositive, used only with indefinite or interrogative pronouns) Other; in addition to previously mentioned items.

   The instructor is busy. Can anyone else help me?

   • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act I scene ii^[1]:

     Prospero:

     Thou hast done well, fine Ariel. Follow me;

     Hark what thou else shalt do me.

Usage notes

• This adjective usually follows an indefinite or interrogative pronoun, as in the examples above. In other cases, the adjective other is typically used.

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

else (not comparable)

1. (follows interrogative adverbs) Otherwise, if not.

   How else (=in what other way) can it be done?

   I'm busy Friday; when else (=what other time) works for you?

Usage notes

• (otherwise): This word frequently follows interrogative adverbs, such as how, why, and when, as well as the derived however, whyever, and whenever.

Synonyms

• otherwise

Derived terms

• or else

Translations

Conjunction

else

1. For otherwise; or else.

   Then the Wronskian of f and g must be nonzero, else they could not be linearly independent.

   • 1903, Jack London, The Call of the Wild, Grosset & Dunlap, page 44:

     […] and his first experience taught him an unforgetable lesson. It is true, it was a vicarious experience, else he would not have lived to profit by it.

Translations

See also

• and
• if
• not
• or
• then

Anagrams

• EELS, ELEs, Lees, Slee, eels, l'ees, lees, lese, seel, sele

Italian

Noun

else f

1. plural of elsa

Anagrams

• lese

English

Alternative forms

• elve (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Ultimately probably derived from Proto-Indo-European *h?elb?ós (“white”). Doublet of oaf.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?lf, IPA^(key): /?lf/
• Rhymes: -?lf

Noun

elf (plural elves)

1. (Norse mythology) A luminous spirit presiding over nature and fertility and dwelling in the world of Álfheim (Elfland). Compare angel, nymph, fairy.
2. Any from a race of mythical, supernatural beings resembling but seen as distinct from human beings. They are usually delicate-featured and skilled in magic or spellcrafting; sometimes depicted as clashing with dwarves, especially in modern fantasy literature.
3. (fantasy) Any of the magical, typically forest-guarding races bearing some similarities to the Norse álfar (through Tolkien's Eldar).
4. A very diminutive person; a dwarf.
5. (South Africa) The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

Synonyms

• (supernatural creature): See goblin (hostile); fairy (small, mischievous)

Hyponyms

• elfe
• elven
• wood elf, wood-elf

Derived terms

Related terms

• elfin, elven, elvan
• elvish

Descendants

• ? Dutch: elf
• ? German: Elf, Elfe
• ? Japanese: ??? (erufu)
• ? Korean: ?? (elpeu)

Translations

Verb

elf (third-person singular simple present elfs, present participle elfing, simple past and past participle elfed)

1. (now rare) To twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.
   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, King Lear

     My face I'll grime with filth, blanket my loins, elf all my hairs in knots, and with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky.

See also

• dark elf & light elf
• fairy
• brownie
• dwarf
• hobbit
• Eldar

References

• Marshall Jones Company (1930). Mythology of All Races Series, Volume 2 Eddic, Great Britain: Marshall Jones Company, 1930, pp. 220-221.

Anagrams

• EFL

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch elf, from Middle Dutch ellef, elf, from Old Dutch *ellef, from Proto-Germanic *ainalif.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lf/

Numeral

elf

1. eleven

Catalan

Noun

elf m (plural elfs)

1. elf

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [??lf]

Noun

elf m

1. elf

Declension

Derived terms

• elfí

Further reading

• elf in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• elf in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l(?)f/
• Hyphenation: elf
• Rhymes: -?lf

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch ellef, elf, from Old Dutch *ellef, from Proto-Germanic *ainalif, a compound of *ainaz and *-lif. Compare German elf, West Frisian alve, English eleven, Danish elleve.

Numeral

elf

1. eleven

Noun

elf f (plural elven, diminutive elfje n)

1. The number eleven, or a representation thereof.

Descendants

• Afrikaans: elf

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Elf, itself borrowed from English elf, from Old English ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz. Displaced native alf, from the same Germanic source.

Noun

elf m (plural elfen or elven, diminutive elfje n, feminine elve or elfin)

1. elf, brownie (small folkloric creature)
2. (fantasy) elf (humanoid pointy-eared creature in fantasy)

Synonyms

• (mythical being): alf

Derived terms

• boself
• elfenbank
• elfin
• kerstelf
• woudelf

Anagrams

• fel
• lef

Dutch Low Saxon

Etymology

From Low German, from Middle Low German elvene, from Old Saxon ellevan. Related to German elf.

Numeral

elf

1. eleven (11)

German

Alternative forms

• eilf, eilff, eylff (dated/obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German einlif, eilef, elf, from Old High German einlif, from Proto-Germanic *ainalif, a compound of *ainaz and *-lif. Compare Dutch elf, West Frisian alve, English eleven, Danish elleve.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??lf/

Numeral

elf

1. eleven

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

• Elf
• elffach
• Elfeck
• elfeckig
• elfstellig
• elfstündig

Further reading

• “elf” in Duden online

German Low German

Alternative forms

• eleve, ölve, ölven

Etymology

From Middle Low German elvene, from Old Saxon ellevan.

Numeral

elf

1. eleven

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic ?????? (?alf).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lf/

Numeral

elf m or f (dual elfejn, plural eluf or elufijiet, paucal elef)

1. thousand

Middle English

Alternative forms

• elfe, helfe

Etymology

From Old English elf, Anglian form of ælf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi, from Proto-Germanic *albiz, from Proto-Indo-European *h?elb?ós (“white”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lf/

Noun

elf (plural elves)

1. elf, fairy
2. spirit, shade

Related terms

• elven
• elvyssh

Descendants

• English: elf (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: elf
• Yola: elf

References

• “elf, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-12.

Pennsylvania German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??lf/

Etymology

From Rhine Franconian, from Old High German einlif. Compare German elf, Dutch elf, English eleven.

Numeral

elf

1. eleven

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?lf/

Noun

elf m anim

1. elf, mythical or fantasy creature

Declension

Usage notes

The plural for the Tolkien creatures is usually elfowie.

Romanian

Etymology

From French elfe.

Noun

elf m (plural elfi)

1. elf

Declension

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English elf, from Old English ielf, from Proto-West Germanic *albi.

Noun

elf (plural elvès)

1. fairy

References

• Jacob Poole (1867) , William Barnes, editor, A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, J. Russell Smith, ?ISBN