élan

See also: Appendix:Variations of "elan"

English

Alternative forms

• elan

Etymology

Borrowed from French élan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪˈlɑːn/, /eɪˈlæn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːn, -æn

Noun

élan (countable and uncountable, plural élans)

1. Spirit; zeal; ardor.
   • 1916, Booth Tarkington, Penrod and Sam, page 197:

     Sam, carried away by the élan of the performance, was unable to resist joining them.

   • 1971, Deborah S. Davis, “The Cultural Revolution in Wuhan”, in The Cultural Revolution in the Provinces‎^[1], Harvard University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 159:

     The goal of the Cultural Revolution was to radicalize the whole society, to create mass participation at all levels of decision-making, and to restore the revolutionary élan of the 1940s.

   • 2012 March 4, Alice Rawsthorn, “Farewell, Pocket Calculator?”, in The New York Times‎^[2]:

     A pocket calculator was the closest that most 1970s consumers came to owning anything with computational power, even if all it could do was basic math. Those tiny gizmos seemed enticing because they offered rare glimpses into the enigmatic world of technology, and the Sinclair Executive also had the élan of being the first one.

2. Grace; style (especially apparently effortless).
   • 2001 10, Daniel Alef, Pale Truth, Titans of Fortune Publishing, →ISBN, page 189:

     Mary Ellen had never seen any woman, with the exception of Abigail, take such an active role in the company of men, though Abigail did it with élan and never directly or conspicuously.

   • 2018 November 1, Anthony Horowitz, quoting Booklist, The Sentence is Death: A mind-bending murder mystery from the bestselling author of THE WORD IS MURDER, Random House, →ISBN:

     Despite [the] Holmesian frame story, the overall voice of the series is fresh and original, Horowitz writing with the effortless élan that distinguishes all of his work.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with eland, the name of two African antelopes.

Related terms

• élan vital
• lance, lancet

Translations

spirit, zeal

• Finnish: into (fi), säpinä, kiihko (fi), palo (fi)
• French: élan (fr) m
• German: Elan (de) m
• Maori: matangareka, wana, rika, whitawhita
• Portuguese: elã (pt) m, élan (pt) m
• Romanian: elan (ro) n
• Swedish: stil och fart, schvung (sv), geist (sv)

Anagrams

• lane, Lena, enal, lean, Lean, Nale, Neal, Lane, Alne, nale, Alen, neal

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e.lɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophone: élans

Etymology 1

Deverbal from élancer.

Noun

élan m (plural élans)

1. spirit
2. momentum

   Il prend son élan. ― He is gaining momentum.

3. (sports) run up

Derived terms

• prendre son élan

Descendants

• → English: élan
• → German: Elan
• → Portuguese: elã, élan
• → Romanian: elan

Etymology 2

From a Baltic language.

Noun

élan m (plural élans)

1. moose, elk

Further reading

• “élan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French élan.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.lɐ̃/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈɛ.lɐn/

• Hyphenation: é‧lan

Noun

élan m (plural élans)

1. Alternative form of elã