English
elfin wood
From elfin + wood, circa 1900-05.
Proto-Indo-European *h₂elbʰós ‘white’
Proto-Germanic *albiz ‘elf’
Old English ielf ‘elf’
Old English elfen ‘nymph, spirit, fairy’
Middle English elven ‘a elf, a fairy, nymph’
English elfin
Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- ‘to separate’
…
Proto-West Germanic *widu ‘forest’
Old English widu
Old English wudu ‘wood’
Middle English wode ‘wood’
English wood
Today it means
noun A collection of trees that survives on poor soil above the tree line, often covered by snow; krummholz.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / elfin wood