Dictionary

elf-maiden en · NOUN

Etymology

From elf + maiden.

Meanings

1. elfmaid, a female elf.
   • That elf-maiden smote with her hand so white, “Sorrow and sickness on thee alight” That elf-maiden smote with her cap so small, “No more shall priest's benison on thee fall!” 1847 September 11, William J. Thoms, “The Folk-lore of Shakespeare”, in The Athenaeum, London, page 958, column 1:
   • “There upon the hill, close by the wood, did I act the elf-maiden,” said Sophie. 1845, Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Mary Howitt, Only a Fiddler! and O.T., volume II, London: Richard Bentley, page 298:

Forms