Dutch

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Alosa alosa

Etymology

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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.

Pronunciation

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  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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elft m (plural elften, diminutive elftje n)

  1. The allis shad, Alosa alosa

Further reading

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Pennsylvania German

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Pennsylvania German ordinal numbers
 <  10 11 12  > 
    Cardinal : elf
    Ordinal : elft

Etymology

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Compare German elfte, Dutch elfde, English eleventh.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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elft

  1. eleventh

Numeral

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elft

  1. eleventh