elft

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.

• Audio:

  (file)

elft m (plural elften, diminutive elftje n)

1. the allis shad, Alosa alosa

• elft on the Dutch Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^nl

Compare German elfte, Dutch elfde, English eleventh.

• IPA^(key): /ɛlft/

elft

1. eleventh

elft

1. eleventh