elvan

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See also: əlvan

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From a Cornish word,[3] perhaps Cornish elven, elvan (spark)[4][5] because the hard rock could be struck to spark fire.[6]

Adjective

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elvan (comparative more elvan, superlative most elvan)

  1. (mining) Of or relating to certain veins of feldspathic or porphyritic rock crossing metalliferous veins in the mining districts of Cornwall.
    an elvan course

Noun

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elvan (countable and uncountable, plural elvans)

  1. (mining) The rock of an elvan vein, or the vein itself.
    Synonym: elvanite (the rock)

Etymology 2

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Variation of elven (or elfin,[3] which see for more) influenced by -an.

Adjective

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elvan (comparative more elvan, superlative most elvan)

  1. (uncommon) Elven, elfin, pertaining to elves.
Synonyms
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Translations
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References

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  1. ^ James Stormonth, Etymological and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition, William Blackwood and Sons (1879), page 174, under the entry “elf”: “elvan, a. ĕlv'-ăn, same as elfish
  2. ^ elvan”, in Collins English Dictionary.
  3. 3.0 3.1 elvan”, in The Century Dictionary [], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
  4. ^ Thomas Davidson, Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language (1907)
  5. ^ Handbook for travellers in Cornwall (1879), John Murray (publishers), page 25
  6. ^ 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."

Anagrams

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Swedish

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Noun

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elvan

  1. definite singular of elva

Anagrams

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