noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A changeling or elf child; a child left by fairies. obsolete

   "Say that the Fayrie left this Aulfe, And tooke away the other."

2. 2
   A deformed or foolish child; a simpleton; an oaf. obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms

changelingdauberlubbermess-upoafscrewup

Example

More examples

"Say that the Fayrie left this Aulfe, And tooke away the other."

Etymology

From Old Norse alfr (“elf”). Compare Danish alf, Swedish alf, alv. Doublet of alf, elf, and oaf.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.