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elf

/ɛlf/noun

elf is spelled E-L-F: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “elf vs elve” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, elf means “A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or dangerous magical influence; in later Norse sources, sometimes…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of elf is elves; Wiktionary also lists elfs (nonstandard).

How many letters and syllables are in elf?

Letters3: E-L-F
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).

How common is elf?

Elf appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce elf?

  • /ɛlf/

Elf has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-elf.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with elf

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

elf vs elve10 B

Also written: elve.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of elf

  • elves plural
  • elfs present, singular, he/she/it
  • elfing participle, present
  • elfed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does elf mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A supernatural being or spirit associated with illness, mischief, and harmful or dangerous magical influence; in later Norse sources, sometimes divided into benevolent light elves (inhabiting Álfheimr) and malevolent dark elves.

  2. 2

    A small, magical creature similar to a fairy, often mischievous, playful, or occasionally helpful.

  3. 3

    A member of a race of tall, slender, graceful beings with pointed ears, typically immortal or very long-lived and possessing wisdom and magical abilities.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of Christmas elf.

  5. 5

    obsoleteA very diminutive person; a dwarf.

  6. 6

    Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

noun

as ELF
  1. 1

    Acronym of Executable and Linking Format, a common object file format for Unix.

  2. 2

    Initialism of extremely low frequency.

  3. 3

    Acronym of English as a lingua franca (“English used by non-native speakers”).

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo twist into elflocks (of hair); to mat.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Elf in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchelfe (Norse mythology: luminous spirit dwelling in…), lutin, farfadet (mythical, supernatural being)
Portugueseelfo (Norse mythology: luminous spirit dwelling in…)
Spanishelfo (Norse mythology: luminous spirit dwelling in…), duende (mythical, supernatural being)
GermanElfe, Elf, Elb, Elbe, Alb, Alp (mythical, supernatural being)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does elf come from?

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 *h₂elbʰós (“white”). Doublet of alf, awf, and oaf. The modern fantasy literature sense was popularised by the works of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after elf