Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.
- noun Distinctive style or flair.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Ardor inspired by enthusiasm, passion, or the like; dash.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Ardor inspired by passion or enthusiasm.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Spirit ,zeal ,ardor .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a feeling of strong eagerness (usually in favor of a person or cause)
- noun enthusiastic and assured vigor and liveliness
- noun distinctive and stylish elegance
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[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).]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Borrowing from French élan.
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Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
dimã©lion commented on the word élan
(n): energy, style, and enthusiasm.
November 15, 2008
100000232338334 commented on the word élan
Eric drove with great zest and elan--and the recklessness of someone extremely hard to kill. -Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas
December 11, 2010