elk meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

elk

nounalso spelled Elk

/ɛlk/

Etymology From Middle English elk, from Old English eolc, eolh (“elk”), from Proto-West Germanic *elh, from Proto-Germanic *elhaz, *algiz (“elk”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁élḱis, *h₁ólḱis, variant of *h₁elh₁én, from *h₁el- (“deer”). See also Low German Elk, German Elch, Danish elg, Norwegian elg, Swedish älg; also Polish łoś, Russian лось (losʹ), Vedic Sanskrit ऋश्य (ṛ́śya, “antelope”); also German Elen, Tocharian A yäl, Tocharian B ylem (“gazelle”), Lithuanian élnis (“stag”), Armenian եղնիկ (eġnik, “doe, hind”). Doublet of Elhaz.

› Any of various large species of deer such as…

Commonwealth, Europe Any of the subspecies of the moose (Alces alces, the largest member of the deer family, alternatively named Eurasian elk to avoid confusion with the wapiti), that occurs only in Europe and Asia.

Canada, US Common wapiti (Cervus canadensis), the second largest member of the deer family, once thought to be a subspecies of red deer.

British, India Sambar (Cervus unicolor).

In a narrow defile […] a male elk, (cervus alces, Lin.) of noble appearance, followed by twenty-two females, passed majestically under their platform, each as large as a common-sized horse.1813, James Forbes, Oriental Memoirs, page 281:

Synonyms: alce, wapiti, moose
Derived terms: Black Elk, Cape elk, elkburger, Elk City, Elk County, Elk Grove, Elkhart, elkhorn, elkhound, Elk Lick, elklike, Elk Mountains, Elk Point, Elk River, elkskin, elk test, Elkton, elkweed, elkwood, giant elk, Irish elk, Nelson's elk, Roosevelt elk, West Elk Mountains

Elk

noun

A member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, an American fraternal order.

Derived terms: Elkdom

Elk

noun

Informal An Acorn Electron computer.

Even modified it so that it would work with the differently ordered registers of an Electron. Never did get it working fully on the Elk, I think my Elk with Mode 7 box caused a problem with the use of IRQ workspace, system speed was also a factor IIRC.1999, Lionel Smith, “Reading old DOS discs on a BBC”, in comp.sys.acorn.misc (Usenet):
I'm pretty certain I remember seeing it on a price list when most BBC and Elk games had to be mail ordered (I think Impact was the mail order company - they also produced games like Zenon and Clogger).2003, Gareth Williams, “What is Electron Elite V2?”, in alt.fan.elite (Usenet):