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Once upon a time, English speakers did not have élan (the word, that is; we have always had the potential for vigorous spirit). We had, however, the verb elance, meaning "to throw," that was used for the launching of darts, javelins, and similar weaponry. Elance is derived from the Middle French (s')eslancer, meaning "to rush or dash" (that is, "to hurl oneself forth"). Elance enjoyed only a short flight in English, largely falling into disuse by the mid-1800s, around which time English speakers picked up élan, another French word that traces back, via the Middle French noun eslan ("dash, rush"), to (s')eslancer. We copied élan in form from the French, but we dispensed with the French sense of a literal "rush" or "dash," retaining the sense of enthusiastic animation that we sometimes characterize as dash.
Examples of élan in a Sentence
Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 30 Oct. 2024
The Orioles have adeptly selected their times to be aggressive on the bases
After more than three hours of tense back and forth Wednesday night in the Bronx, the Orioles finished the Yankees not with their trademark power but with base running elan.
—Childs Walker, Baltimore Sun, 21 June 2024
Oval watches aren’t exactly rare, but they rarely have been executed with such elan and sophistication.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 9 May 2024
Chucho and Correa become good friends as well, as the principal is won over by the new teacher’s creativity, commitment and elan.
—Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023
And that kind of sucks for the United States, who have come to expect some style and elan from their spin zone.
—Stephen Rodrick, Variety, 16 June 2023
Cotton-linen blends have the advantage of being slightly less see-through than full linen shirts and will crease a little less, but a linen shirt has a certain elan that can’t be beat in the heat.
—Tori Latham, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2023
Few working journalists have written history with as much elan and narrative force as the British author Paul Johnson, who died this week at age 94.
—The Editorial Board, WSJ, 13 Jan. 2023
With soulful elan, Rait, 72, and Staples, 83, delivered a stirring master class in musical excellence, emotional fervor and the art of simultaneously entertaining and uplifting an audience.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Dec. 2022
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Cite this Entry
“élan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/%C3%A9lan. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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