elft

Dutch

Alosa alosa

Etymology

From Middle Dutch elft, possibly from an Old Dutch *alvit, from Proto-West Germanic *albut (swan). The semantic link to swans would be the fish's white color; the Germanic term ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (white). This Indo-European word is generally accepted to be the most likely origin of this word, even if elft were found not to derive directly from Germanic *albits but to have entered the language through some other route.

Pronunciation

  • (file)

Noun

elft m (plural elften, diminutive elftje n)

  1. The allis shad, Alosa alosa

Further reading

Pennsylvania German

Pennsylvania German ordinal numbers
 <  10 11 12  > 
    Cardinal : elf
    Ordinal : elft

Etymology

Compare German elfte, Dutch elfde, English eleventh.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛlft/

Adjective

elft

  1. eleventh

Numeral

elft

  1. eleventh
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