elan

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é·lan

(ā-läN′, ā-län′)

1. Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.

2. Distinctive style or flair.

[French, from Old French eslan, rush, from eslancer, to hurl : es-, out (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + lancer, to throw (from Late Latin lanceāre, to throw a lance, from Latin lancea, lance).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

élan

(eɪˈlɑːn; eɪˈlæn; French elɑ̃)

a combination of style and vigour: he performed the concerto with élan.

[C19: from French, from élancer to throw forth, ultimately from Latin lancea lance]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

é•lan

(eɪˈlɑn, eɪˈlɑ̃)

n.

dash or vivacity; verve.

[1875–80; French, Middle French eslan a dash, rush, n. derivative of eslancer to dart =es- ex-¹ + lancer to lance]

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Noun	1.	elan - a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause); "they were imbued with a revolutionary ardor"; "he felt a kind of religious zeal" ardor, ardour, zeal avidity, avidness, eagerness, keenness - a positive feeling of wanting to push ahead with something
	2.	elan - distinctive and stylish elegance; "he wooed her with the confident dash of a cavalry officer" dash, panache, flair, style elegance - a refined quality of gracefulness and good taste; "she conveys an aura of elegance and gentility"
	3.	elan - enthusiastic and assured vigor and liveliness; "a performance of great elan and sophistication" sprightliness, liveliness, spirit, life - animation and energy in action or expression; "it was a heavy play and the actors tried in vain to give life to it"

élan

noun style, spirit, dash, flair, animation, vigour, verve, zest, panache, esprit, brio, vivacity, impetuosity The part was performed with élan by a promising young tenor.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

élan

noun

A lively, emphatic, eager quality or manner:

animation, bounce, brio, dash, esprit, life, liveliness, pertness, sparkle, spirit, verve, vigor, vim, vivaciousness, vivacity, zip.

Informal: ginger, pep, peppiness.

Slang: oomph.

Translations

élan

[eɪˈlɑːn, eɪˈlæn] N (liter) → elán m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

élan

elan [eɪˈlɑːn] n (literary) (= panache) to do sth with elan → faire qch avec entrain

élan

n → Elan m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in classic literature ?

Smith, two others, the hippopotamus, the giraffe, the bos caffer -- as large as a full-grown bull, and the elan -- but little less, two zebras, and the quaccha, two gnus, and several antelopes even larger than these latter animals.

If we take on the one side, the elephant, [7] hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, elan, certainly three, and probably five species of rhinoceros; and on the American side, two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer, the vicuna, peccari, capybara (after which we must choose from the monkeys to complete the number), and then place these two groups alongside each other, it is not easy to conceive ranks more disproportionate in size.

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"Daim is the French for deer, and cerf for stag; elan is the true term, when one would speak of an elk."