Ouphe

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A mischievous elf, goblin or sprit of folklore, often said to be a sickly child left in place of a stolen one
2. An impish supernatural being from old English folklore, believed to haunt the woods and play tricks on people
3. A small fairy-like spirit in traditional legend, regarded as a mischievous creature that might switch places with a human baby

Etymology: "Ouphe" is a rare English noun for a mischievous or sprite-like being, and its history runs through the same folklore that gave us "oaf." The word began as a term for a changeling, the sickly or unruly child that folk belief said fairies had swapped for a human baby. Over time the sense loosened from the swapped infant to the elf or goblin itself, and in this sense the word shares an origin with "oaf," which once meant that same fairy changeling before it came to mean a dull, clumsy person. That shift from a supernatural child to a lumpish adult is the centrepiece of the story. "Oaf" kept the insult and lost the fairy, while "ouphe" kept the fairy and lost the everyday use, so it survives mainly in literary and dictionary contexts. The two words are close relatives that took opposite paths from the same folk idea.

Synonyms: elf, goblin, sprite, imp, fairy