elvan

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

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

elvan (plural elvans)

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

Etymology 2

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

Adjective

elvan (comparative more elvan, superlative most elvan)

  1. (uncommon) Elven, elfin, pertaining to elves.
Synonyms
Translations
elven — see elven

References
  • elvan in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
  • Robert Hunter, The Encyclopaedic Dictionary: A New and Original Work of Reference (1901)
  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 the Collins English Dictionary, Glasgow: HarperCollins Publishers.
  3. elvan in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
  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

Swedish

Noun

elvan

  1. definite singular of elva
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