sea-elf

English

Etymology

From sea +‎ elf.

Noun

sea-elf (plural sea-elves)

  1. A merman or mermaid.
    • 1833, The Olio: Collected by a Literary Traveller, Boston, page 184:
      You may dare to face a howitzer's mouth,
      You may brave a wild beast's rage,
      And you'll know less dread with the first or last
      Than this old sea-elf - I'll wage;
      Yet he seem'd such a downright sociable ghost
      That I flinched not from his gage.
    • 1859, Hyde Clarke, New and Comprehensive Dictionary of the English Languge, London: John Weale, page 413, column 2:
      TRITON. n seaelf, half man and half fish.
    • 1896, Vincent O'Sullivan, Poems, London: Elkin Mathews, page 4:
      When the moon is afloat,
      And the ocean at rest,
      The sea-elf goes forth
      To the town he loves best:
      Up from his cave, over the wave,
      With joy in his breast.
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