elf, noun

/elf/
Forms:
Also (especially formerly) elft.
Origin:
Afrikaans, DutchShow more Afrikaans, earlier Dutch elft shad.
a. The marine fish Pomatomus saltatrix of the Pomatomidae, prized as a food; shad sense 1; skipjack sense 3. Also attributive.
Note:
The name ‘elf’ is used for this species in Smith and Heemstra’s Smiths’ Sea Fishes (1986).
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 190In the Table-Bay, and in Bay-Falzo, is caught a Sort of Fish the Dutch call Elft. The Elft is Three Quarters of a Yard long or more; and is scal’d much like a Herring.
1918 S.H. Skaife Animal Life in S. Afr. 207The elft is a large, silver-coloured relative of the maas-banker. It is fairly common around the coast, and is caught in numbers as it is highly esteemed as a food fish.
1930 C.L. Biden Sea-Angling Fishes 33In South Africa the elf is seldom seen to display its natural habit of leaping from the water.
1955 C. Horne Fisherman’s Eldorado 24Occasionally elf, or shad as these fish are known to Eastern Province and Natal anglers, run well in summer.
1964 J. Bennett Mr Fisherman (1967) 25‘Plenty elft tonight, master,’ said one of the fishermen. He pointed to the fish on the quay.
1970 Argus 30 Jan. 8Bailey’s Cottage keeps producing elf, but the good runs of the previous week, when the fish were going for spinner in this area, have not yet recurred.
1980 E. Prov. Herald 31 July 15I have done this on evening elf trips to Roman Rock. While the rest of the crew fished in the conventional way for elf, I put out bass plugs on bass tackle and was well rewarded.
1989 E. Prov. Herald 3 Nov. 25The elf season is open but, remember, no matter how plentiful they are, only five each with a minimum size of 30cm.
1992 V. Kabalin in Afr. Wildlife Vol.46 No.2, 201Sustainable stock in the Bay of yellowtail, kob, baartman, elf and steenbras.
b. With defining word designating an elf of a large size which has a distinctive colouration: blueback elf, greenback elf.
1982 E. Prov. Herald 10 June 8Then throughout the winter, as now, we caught elf of all sizes. The real big ones were called blueback elf because of their colour.
1988 E. Prov. Herald 27 Feb. 8Another favourite cool weather fish is the elf. Big ones, known as greenback elf, are caught then.
The marine fish Pomatomus saltatrix of the Pomatomidae, prized as a food; shad sense 1; skipjack sense 3. Also attributive.
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Dutch
elephant, nounn.els, nounn.
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