elver

Variant of eelfare, originally "brood of young eels", from Middle English *elfare, *elvare, from el (“eel”) +‎ fare (“group of journeyers”). Equivalent to eel +‎ fare.

Liberman instead connects the second element of this word to a putative Old English suffix *-for(e),^[1] but there is no need to posit such a suffix when the traditional etymology suffices. Furthermore, such a suffix is not securely attested, and the spelling of the word's earliest attestation (as yele fare, ell vare) implies Middle English /aː/.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛlvə(ɹ)/

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elver (plural elvers)

1. A young eel.
   • 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Granta Books, published 2013, page 69:

     When these glass eels enter freshwater they transform again into elvers – miniature versions of the adult eels.

• Lever, Revel, lever, revel

el- +‎ ver

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛlvɛr]
• Hyphenation: el‧ver
• Rhymes: -ɛr

elver

1. (transitive) to thrash, whack, trounce, to defeat utterly

   A hazai csapat elverte a vendégeket. ― The home team thrashed the visitors.

   Synonym: legyőz

2. (transitive) to thrash, beat up, to beat mercilessly
   • 1851, Mór Jókai, “The Two Saxons”, in A két szász‎^[1]:

     De János mester sem volt rest, hanem előkapott egy fokosbaltát a szegletből, s miután a vadászkést kiütötte ellene kezéből, nekiesett a fokossal, s úgy elverte, úgy elpáholta azt, mint a kétfenekű dobot, míg csak a fullajtár, bornak és ütlegeknek sokasága miatt le nem esett a lábáról, akkor aztán szépen lefektette az ágyba, s reggelig ott hagyta nyugodni a műhelyben.

     But Master John was not idle either, but took an axe from the corner, and having knocked the hunting-knife out of his enemy’s hand, he struck at him with the axe, and beat him and whipped him like a double-headed drum, until the outrider fell off his feet due to the multitude of wine and clubs, and then he nicely laid him down in bed, and let him rest in the workshop till morning.

   Synonyms: elagyabugyál, eltángál, elfenekel, elkalapál, elpáhol, helybenhagy

3. (transitive) to squander, waste, throw away (money, wealth)

   Minden pénzét elverte. ― He/she squandered all his/her money.

   Synonyms: elkölt, elpazarol

4. (transitive) to drive off violently
5. (transitive, archaic) to play (to produce music using a musical instrument)

   Synonym: eljátszik

6. (transitive, dated) to pass (time) while being bored, to kill time
   • 1986, Anna Dániel, Teréz küldetése^[2] (“Teréz’s Mission”), chapter 2, page 18:

     A veszprémi hegyeket megkerülve érkeztek Zalaegerszegre, s ott értesültek róla, hogy az ifjú Brunszvik Nagykanizsán táborozik. Ott rá is találtak; az inszurgens a városban vett ki szállást, és kártyázással verte el az időt.

     They arrived in Zalaegerszeg bypassing the Veszprém hills, and there they learned that young Brunszvik was camping in Nagykanizsa. There they found him; the insurgent had taken lodgings in the town and passed the time by playing cards.

   Synonyms: tölt, elüt, eltölt, (dated) múlat

7. (of a clock) to strike, announce (an hour of the day)

   Elverte a tizenkettőt. ― The clock struck twelve.

   Synonym: elüt

8. (transitive, slightly literary) to appease, allay, quench, still, stop, end (dream, thirst, hunger etc.)
   • 1847, János Arany, Toldi,^[3] canto 4, stanza 7, lines 1–4; trans.^[4] by Watson Kirkconnell:

     Vadmadár-tojással éh-szomját elvervén, / Szörnyen hányta a hab a jövőnek tervén: / Merre menjen? mihez fogjon? uramfia! / Nincsen hő lelkének hová fordulnia.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

     Having with eggs allayed his hunger’s pains, ¶ In making future plans he racked his brains. ¶ Where should he go? What should he start? My God ¶ His ardent soul alone its pathway trod.

9. (transitive, of hail or rain) to destroy
   • 1844, Sándor Petőfi, “I drink water”, in Vizet iszom‎^[5], stanza 2, lines 1-4:

     A szőlőket tavaly / Elverte tán a jég? / Vagy a dér csipte meg / S bor nem termett elég?

     Did the vines get hit by ice last year, perhaps? Or was it white frost and not enough wine produced?

   • 1872, Mór Jókai, Az arany ember^[6] (Timar’s Two Worlds),^[7] part 4, chapter 4, translated by Mrs. Hegan Kennard:

     Hanem egyet nem tudtak az orvosok, ennek elfeledtek utánajárni: – azt, hogy a nyár végén az egész Balaton környékét elverte a jég.

     But they had forgotten that toward the end of the summer hail-storms had laid waste the whole district;

   • 1962, Ferenc Móra, “Szeptemberi emlék” (“A Memory from September”), in Tápéi furfangosok,^[8] volume 1:

     Szent István délutánján elverte a jég a szőlőt. Azaz dehogy elverte: széthasogatta még a tőkéket is. Még másnap reggel is marékszámra lehetett szedni a jeget a laposokon, ahol a víz összesodorta.

     On the afternoon of St Stephen’s Day, the vineyard was hit by ice. Or rather, it wasn’t only hit: the vine stocks were actually cracked into pieces. The next morning one could still pick the ice by the handful on the flats where the water had washed it away.

   A jégeső elverte a vetést. ― The hail destroyed the corn.

10. (transitive, of the sun or wind) to disperse, drive away
    • 1872, Mór Jókai, Az arany ember^[9] (Timar’s Two Worlds),^[10] part 1, chapter 14, translated by Mrs. Hegan Kennard:

      Egy este elverte a szél a felhőket, s amint Timár kabinja ablakából kitekintett, meglátta a nyugati láthatáron az újholdat.

      One evening the wind dispersed the clouds, and when Timar looked out of his cabin window he saw on the western horizon the crescent moon [in the original: "new moon"].

    • 1889, Mór Jókai, Utazás egy sírdomb körül^[11] (“A Journey Around a Burial Mound”), chapter 13:

      Reggelre azonban nem hogy megenyhült vagy megfordult volna a szél, hanem még erősebb lett, s egészen keletinek nyilatkozott. Az a jó azonban volt benne, hogy az esőfelhőket mind elverte az égről a hegyek mögé.

      By morning, however, the wind did not die down or change, but became even stronger, and appeared quite easterly. But the good thing was that it beat all the rain clouds out of the sky and behind the mountains.

    A nap elverte a ködöt. ― The sun dispersed the fog.

11. (transitive, of wind or waves) to propel, blow away

    A szél elverte a csónakot. ― The wind blew the boat away.

12. (transitive, dialectal) to thresh (to separate the grain from the straw or husks)

    Synonym: elcsépel

• elver in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• elver in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

elver m or f

1. indefinite plural of elv

elver m

1. indefinite plural of elv

• elvar

elver f

1. indefinite plural of elv

• elvar

elver m

1. indefinite plural of elv