Word.ws English Dictionary

Elkanah

Elkanah proper noun: any of several minor characters in the Old Testament, including the father of Samuel.

Proper noun

Elkanah

  1. Any of several minor characters in the Old Testament, including the father of Samuel.
    • Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am I not better to thee than ten sons?1 Samuel 1:8
  2. (rare) A male given name from Hebrew of Biblical origin.
    • WILKES. "We have no city-poet now: that is an office which has gone into disuse. The last was Elkanah Settle. There is something in names which one cannot help feeling. Now Elkanah Settle sounds so queer, who can expect much from that name? We should have no hesitation to give it to John Dryden, in...1791, James Boswell, The Life of Dr. Samuel Johnson: II-Dr. Johnson and Mr.Wilkes

Origin of Elkanah

From Hebrew אֶלְקָנָה (ʾelqānā, “God has created”).

Questions about Elkanah

What does Elkanah mean?
Elkanah means any of several minor characters in the Old Testament, including the father of Samuel.
What part of speech is Elkanah?
Elkanah is a proper noun.

Words near Elkanah in the dictionary

  1. Elk Point
  2. Elk River
  3. elk test
  4. elk tests
  5. Elkader
  6. Elkanah
  7. Elkasaite
  8. Elkasaites
  9. elkburger
  10. elkburgers
  11. Elkdom

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Elkanah (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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