elfn.[AS. lf, ylf; akin to MHG. alp, G. alp nightmare, incubus, Icel. lfr elf, Sw. alf, elfva; cf. Skr. bhu skillful, artful, rabh to grasp. Cf. Auf, Oaf.]1. An imaginary supernatural being, commonly a little sprite, much like a fairy; a mythological diminutive spirit, supposed to haunt hills and wild places, and generally represented as delighting in mischievous tricks.()Every elf, and fairy sprite,
Hop as light as bird from brier. (Shak.)2. A very diminutive person; a dwarf.()Elf arrow, a flint arrowhead; -- so called by the English rural folk who often find these objects of prehistoric make in the fields and formerly attributed them to fairies; -- called also elf bolt, elf dart, and elf shot. -- Elf child, a child supposed to be left by elves, in room of one they had stolen. See Changeling. -- Elf fire, the ignis fatuus. Brewer. -- Elf owl (Zol.), a small owl (Micrathene Whitneyi) of Southern California and Arizona.()v. t. To entangle mischievously, as an elf might do.()Elf all my hair in knots. (Shak.)