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alce,n.falsefalse$Revision$ Frequency (in current use): Show frequency band information Origin:A borrowing from Latin.Etymon: Latinalcē. Etymology: < classical Latinalcē (compare Hellenistic Greekἄλκη ) < the Germanic base ofelkn.1 (see discussion at that entry). Inβ. forms probably after classical Latinalcis, genitive singular ofalcē . Inγ. forms after scientific Latinalces. (Show Less) Nowhistorical andrare. The elk,Alces alces (seeelkn.1 1a). 1541 T. ElyotImage of Gouernance xxiv. f. 49 Alces, brought for the nones out of the great woddes of Germany. 1631 tr. J. A. ComeniusPorta Linguarum Reserata xvii. §193 The backe ofAlcis cannot be cut or broken with swords stroakes. 1678 E. PhillipsNew World of Words (new ed.) Alce, a wild Beast..hath no joynts in his legs, and therefore doth never lye down but lean to Trees..This beast in English we answerably call an Elk. 1797 Encycl. Brit. I. 364/1 Alce,Alces, orElk, in zoology, the trivial name of a species of the cervus. 1852 R. H. Major tr. S. von HerbersteinNotes upon Russia II. 95 Lithuania possess other wild beasts, besides such as are found in Germany, namely, bisons, buffaloes, andalces, which are wild horses. 1998 V. DickensonDrawn from Life 131 Thealce, or elk [inHistoriæ Canadensis, 1664], which is probably a moose, is unrecognizable as such. 1541—1998(Hide quotations) ► indicates date of composition for this text (as opposed to date of documentary evidence).More | This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2012; latest version published online March 2021).
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