1) A fair mythical creature from Germanic legend, also known as a fairy or faerie, dwelling in forests or mountains away from human civilization. Usually good-natured, yet mischievious troublemakers sometimes. Some can be evil.
The name is derived from the Indo-European root *albh-, "white"; it is a cognate of Latin
albus. Other elf-like creatures in European legend are sylphs, dryads (wood elves), nymphs and leprechauns. A similar creature in Arab and Islamic lore is the
djinni (genie).
2) In Tolkien's Middle Earth novels, the Elves are several groups of a human-like race with very long lifespans, speaking their own languages, the conlangs
Quenya and
Sindarin. The three main groups are
High Elves, Grey Elves and Dark Elves. Orcs are former Elves captured by Sauron, then subjected to torture and humiliation until their spirit is broken and they become evil.
3) A person of slight build.
4) An industrious person, such as the elves who build toys for Santa Claus to be delivered on Christmas night, or the elves who save the
shoemaker's business in Jakob
Grimm's tale "The Elves and the
Shoemaker".
5) One of the four characters in the classic video games Gauntlet and Gauntlet II (Atari, 1985 and 1986). He had the highest speed and shot speed, as well as good magic power, but low armor, fight power and shot power.
6) A penis, especially one smaller than average.