Where does “elf” come from?

Elf comes from Old English ælf, from Proto-Indo-European albʰós, a word of unknown ultimate meaning that gave rise to supernatural beings in Germanic folklore.

elf (English): A luminous spirit presiding over nature and...

Definitions

  1. A luminous spirit presiding over nature and...

Ancestry of “elf”, step by step

elf traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English elf

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishelfelf, fairy; spirit, shade
2Old Englishielfelf
3Proto-West Germanicalbielf, fairy
4Proto-Germanicalbīriver
5LatinAlbis—
6LatinAlbeus—

via Old English Ælf

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old EnglishÆlf—
2Proto-Germanic*albiriver
3Proto-Germanicalbizelf, fairy
4Proto-Indo-Europeanalbʰóswhite

Words derived from “elf”

Every word from Latin Albeus →
elf — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer