ælfþone
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Old English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From ælf (“elf”) + *-þone, so named because it was considered a remedy for ælfādl (“elf disease”).
The second element may be a cognate to þennan (“to stretch”), referring to the winding nature of the plant's stalk.
Noun[edit]
ælfþone f
- Nightshade, as ascribed to an elf.
References[edit]
- Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “ælf-þone”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- “ælf-þone”, in Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, edited by P. Bierbaumer, H. Sauer, et al., 2007–2024