FromFrenchélastique, fromNew Latinelasticus(“elastic”), fromAncient Greekἐλαστός(elastós), alternative form ofἐλατός(elatós,“ductile”) (cf.ἐλατήρ(elatḗr,“a driver, hurler”)), fromἐλαύνω(elaúnō,“to drive, set in motion, push, strike, beat out”).
- IPA(key): /iˈlæstɪk/,/əˈlæstɪk/
- Rhymes:-æstɪk
- Hyphenation:elas‧tic
elastic (comparativemoreelastic,superlativemostelastic)
- Capable ofstretching; particularly, capable of stretching so as to return to an original shape or size whenforce is released.
The rope is somewhatelastic, so expect it to give when you pull on it.
1820,Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature[1], 6th edition, volume20, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page501:In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the leastelastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. For all reverbation lasts for a short time, and produces new sounds which mix with those which are coming in.
- Made of elastic.
elastic band
- Of clothing,elasticated.
- (economics) Sensitive to changes in price.
Demand for entertainment is moreelastic than demand for energy.
- springy;bouncy;vivacious
1900,Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, inThe House Behind the Cedars:He could see that she was tastefully, though not richly, dressed, and that she walked with anelastic step that revealed a light heart and the vigor of perfect health. Her face, of course, he could not analyze, since he had caught only the one brief but convincing glimpse of it.
- Pervasive, all-encompassing.
1834,L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter X, inFrancesca Carrara. […], volume III, London:Richard Bentley, […], (successor toHenry Colburn),→OCLC,page74:It was now about six o'clock, and that first freshness was on the air, which is to the day what youth is to life,—so light, soelastic, so sweet, and so brief:...
- Able to return quickly to a former state or condition, after being depressed or overtaxed; having power to recover easily from shocks and trials.
- elastic spirits; anelastic constitution
capable of stretching
- Arabic:مَرِن(marin)
- Armenian:առաձգական (hy)(aṙajgakan)
- Bulgarian:еластичен (bg)(elastičen)
- Catalan:elàstic
- Chinese:
- Mandarin:彈性的 /弹性的 (zh)(tánxìng de),有彈力的 /有弹力的 (zh)(yǒu tánlì de)
- Czech:pružný (cs) m,elastický (cs)
- Danish:elastisk,smidig
- Finnish:joustava (fi),kimmoisa
- French:élastique (fr) m orf
- German:dehnbar (de),elastisch (de)
- Hungarian:rugalmas (hu),elasztikus (hu),ruganyos (hu)
- Indonesian:elastis (id)
- Irish:leaisteach
- Italian:elastico (it) m,elastica (it) f
- Japanese:エラスティック(erasutikku),伸縮性の(しんしゅくせいの, shinshukusei no),弾性の(だんせいの, dansei no),弾力のある(だんりょくのある, danryoku no aru)
- Malay:kenyal,anyal,elastik
- Manx:so-lhoobey
- Norman:êlastique
- Norwegian:elastisk (no),strekkbar
- Persian:الاستیک,ارتجاعی (fa),کشسان (fa)
- Polish:elastyczny (pl),rozciągliwy (pl),ciągliwy
- Portuguese:elástico (pt)
- Romanian:elastic (ro)
- Russian:эласти́чный (ru)(elastíčnyj),ги́бкий (ru)(gíbkij)
- Scottish Gaelic:lastaig
- Slovak:pružný,elastický
- Slovene:prožen
- Spanish:elástico (es)
- Swedish:töjbar (sv),tänjbar (sv),elastisk (sv)
- Tagalog:igkasin,manaynay
- Thai:ยืดหยุ่น (th)(yʉ̂ʉt-yùn)
- Turkish:elastik (tr)
- Turkmen:çeýe
- Ukrainian:еласти́чний(elastýčnyj)
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sensitive to changes in price
springy; bouncy; vivacious
able to return quickly to a former state or condition, after being depressed or overtaxed; having power to recover easily from shocks and trials
elastic (countable anduncountable,pluralelastics)
- (uncountable) An elastic material used in clothing, particularly in waistbands and cuffs.
running shorts useelastic to eliminate the need for a belt
- (Canada, countable) Anelastic band.
- (Northeastern US) Specifically, a hair tie.
- “elastic”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney,Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “elastic”, inThe Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,→OCLC.
- “elastic”, inOneLook Dictionary Search.
Borrowed fromFrenchélastique.
elastic m orn (feminine singularelastică,masculine pluralelastici,feminine and neuter pluralelastice)
- elastic
