ELVE, a term purely French, though used also in our language. It signifies literally a disciple or scholar bred up under any master, being formed from an Italian word signifying an apprentice or novice. It was first used by the French writers in speaking of painters; such a painter was said to be an élève de Da Vinci, of Raffaelle, and so on. From painting it came to be applied to such as studied or learned any other art under a master. In the Royal Academy of Sciences there were twenty élèves; and in that of Inscriptions, ten élèves.