# elven
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA: /ˈɛlv(ə)n/
* Audio (General American):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛlvən
* Hyphenation: elv‧en

### Etymology 1

* 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”).

#### Noun

elven (plural elvens)
* Originally, a female elf, a fairy, a nymph; (by extension) any elf. [before 12th – 14th c.; revived 20th c.]
** 1982, Terry Brooks, chapter 19, in The Elfstones of Shannara (A Del Rey Book), New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 162:When you told Amberle that we must come here tonight, she reminded you that you had informed the Elvens at the High Council that she would be given a day or two to rest. You answered her by saying that what you told them was a necessary deception. What did you mean by that?
** 2007 April, Derric Euperio, “The Elven and the Troll”, in The Adventures of Ryushin: Two Hearts, Montgomery, Ala.: E-BookTime, →ISBN, page 122:"In order for the elvens to stay in hiding, they live under the great vines rather above them," Aida answered. […] An elven walked over to Rhyona and nodded to her, then entered the thick wood alone.
** 2008, Elizabeth A. Whittingham, “Death and Immortality among Elves and Men”, in Donald E. Palumbo, C. W. Sullivan III, editors, The Evolution of Tolkien’s Mythology: A Study of The History of Middle-earth (Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy; 7), Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN:The first reference to a choice being granted the Half-elvens is in the "Sketch," but it only applies to Elrond and is not exactly the same choice as in the Quenta Silmarillion, […]. The Quenta Silmarillion, however, formalizes this matter of the Half-elvens having to choose. The text describes a debate among the Valar in which Mandos asserts, "[Eärendel] shall surely die…" but since he is both Elf and Man, Ulmo asks, "which half shall die?"
** 2010, Kathryne Kennedy, chapter 2, in The Fire Lord’s Lover, Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks Casablanca, →ISBN, page 30:Although Cass vaguely remembered her trials, she knew her father had been disappointed when she hadn’t possessed enough magic to be sent to the elvens’ home world, the fabled Elfhame.

##### Translations
### Etymology 2

From the attributive use of Middle English elven (“elf or fairy of either sex”) (see etymology 1), like English elfin, reinterpreted as elf +‎ -en (suffix with the sense ‘pertaining to; having the qualities of; resembling’ forming adjectives). The word first appears in the English author and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien’s works The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–1955): see the quotations.

#### Adjective

elven (comparative more elven, superlative most elven)
* Belonging or relating to, or characteristic of, elves; elfin, elflike. [from mid 20th c.]
    Synonyms: elfish, elvish, elvan
** 1937 September 21, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “The Gathering of the Clouds”, in The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published February 1966 (August 1967 printing), →OCLC, page 248:The rocks echoed then with voices and with song, as they had not done for many a day. There was the sound, too, of elven-harps and of sweet music; and as it echoed up towards them it seemed that the chill of the air was warmed, and they caught faintly the fragrance of woodland flowers blossoming in spring.
** 1954 July 29, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “The Shadow of the Past”, in The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings, New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published September 1973, →ISBN, page 81:Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, / Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, / Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, / One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne / In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. / One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, / One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, / In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
** 1977 April, Terry Brooks, chapter I, in The Sword of Shannara (A Del Rey Book), New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published May 1978, →ISBN, pages 16–17:He noted the telltale Elven features immediately—the hint of slightly pointed ears beneath the tousled blond hair, the pencil-like eyebrows that ran straight up at a sharp angle from the bridge of the nose rather than across the brow, and the slimness of the nose and jaw.
** 1990 spring, Michael Rutherford, “Knight of Darkness, Knight of Light”, in John Betancourt, George H. Scithers, Darrell Schweitzer, editors, Weird Tales: The Unique Magazine, volume 51, number 3 (number 296 overall), Philadelphia, Pa.: Terminus Publishing Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 127, column 1:And now, this pitiless light, undiluted by elven love and judgment, burst through me like the arrows of the stars.
** 1992, Raymond E[lias] Feist, “Apprentice”, in Magician (The Riftwar Saga; 1), revised edition, London: Voyager, HarperCollinsPublishers, published 1997, →ISBN, page 21:You know as a boy I was raised by the monks of Silban's Abbey, near the elven forest. I played with elven children, and before I came here, I hunted with Prince Calin and his cousin, Galain.
** 1996, David Goddard, “The Devas”, in The Sacred Magic of the Angels, Boston, Mass., York Beach, Me.: Weiser Books, Red Wheel/Weiser, →ISBN, pages 107–108:Not all of the elven folk are benign. There are dark elves, too, who do not wish humans well.
** 2012, Kathryne Kennedy, The Lord of Illusion, Naperville, Ill.: Sourcebooks Casablanca, →ISBN, page 375:The elven lords stood in a half circle, ominously still and silent. […] Despite their beautiful faces and perfect forms, she knew the elven were evil.

##### Derived terms

* elvenfolk
* half-elven

##### Translations
### Etymology 3

Probably a variant of elmen (“of or pertaining to an elm tree; composed of elm trees; made of elm wood”).

#### Noun

elven (plural elvens)
* (Kent, Sussex, Warwickshire, Worcestershire) An elm (a tree of the genus Ulmus, particularly the wych elm or Scots elm (Ulmus glabra))).

##### Alternative forms

* elvin (Kent)

##### Translations
### References

* 1 2 “elve(n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
* ↑ Compare “elven, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020.
* ↑ Knud Sørensen (1991) “On Revived Words in the OED Supplement”, in Vladimir Ivir, Damir Kalogjera, editors, Languages in Contact and Contrast: Essays in Contact Linguistics (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs; 54), Berlin, New York, N.Y.: Mouton de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 411:Some twentieth-century writers have deliberately, for their own artistic purposes, drawn on the vocabulary of the past. […] J. R. R. Tolkien did the same [i.e., gave a new lease of life] for elven 'elf' (in use till c. 1314) in compounds like elven-kin, elven-king, and elven-wise.
* ↑ Compare Joseph Wright, editor (1900), “ELVEN, sb.”, in The English Dialect Dictionary: […], volume II (D–G), London: Henry Frowde, […], publisher to the English Dialect Society, […]; New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam’s Sons, →OCLC, page 250, column 1.

### Further reading

* elf on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
* “elven, adj.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

### Anagrams

* Leven, Nevel, leven

## Cornish
### Etymology 1

From Proto-Brythonic *elβ̃en, from Latin elementum. Cognate with Breton elfenn and Welsh elfen.

#### Noun

elven f (plural elvennow)
* element
* factor
* spark
* (chemistry) element

##### Derived terms

* ebil elven (“spark plug”)
* elvennek (“basic, elementary”)
* elvennel (“elemental”)

### Etymology 2

From Etymology 1, because the hard rock could be struck to spark fire.

#### Noun

elven f (plural elvenow)
* (mining) elvan/elvanite, a type of igneous rock

##### Descendants

* → English: elvan

### References

* ↑ Frederick William Pearce Jago, An English-Cornish Dictionary: Compiled from the Best Sources (1887), entry "STONE": "A very hard stone which will strike fire is called elvan. Borlase says elven means a spark of fire."

## Dutch
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛl.və(n)/
* Audio:(file)
* Hyphenation: el‧ven
* Rhymes: -ɛlvən

### Numeral

elven
* (archaic) dative plural of elf, still commonly used in the following contexts:
** after met z'n: involving eleven people
    Ze kwamen met z’n elven. ― They were eleven who came.
** after prepositions like na, om, voor: eleven o'clock
    Het was kort voor elven. ― It was shortly before eleven o'clock.

### Noun

elven
* plural of elf
    Elk nummer mag maar één keer voorkomen, maar hier hebben we twee elven.Each number may occur only once, but here we have two elevens.

## Hungarian
### Etymology

elv +‎ -en

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [ˈɛlvɛn]
* Hyphenation: el‧ven

### Noun

elven
* superessive singular of elv

## Middle English
### Alternative forms

* alven, alve, elfe

### Etymology

From Old English elfen, ælfen (“nymph, spirit, fairy”), feminine of elf, ælf (“elf”); by surface analysis, elf +‎ en (feminine suffix). Compare Middle High German elbinne (“fairy, nymph”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɛlvən/, /ˈalvən/

### Noun

elven (plural elvene)
* A (especially female) elf, a fairy, nymph
** 1300, South English Legendary:Ofte in fourme of wommane In many derne weye grete compaygnie men i-seoth of heom boþe hoppie and pleiᵹe, þat Eluene beoth i-cleopede(Oft in the form of women, in very stealthy ways, great numbers of men see fallen angels both happy and playful, that Elvene are embraced,)
** 1300, The Metrical Chronicle of Robert of Gloucester:& ofte in wimmen fourme hii comeþ to men al so, Þat men clupeþ eluene. —(& oft in women form come hither to men, so that men lay with the elvene.)

#### Descendants

* English: elven, elfe (obsolete)

#### References

* “elve(n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-04-05.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Etymology 1
#### Alternative forms

* elva

#### Noun

elven m or f
* definite masculine singular of elv

### Etymology 2
#### Noun

elven m
* definite singular of elv

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Noun

elven m
* definite singular of elv (Etymology 2)