noun
- dash; impetuous ardor: to dance with great élan.
noun
- a combination of style and vigourhe performed the concerto with élan
1877, from French élan (16c.), “spring, bound, impetus,” noun derived from élancer “to rush, dart,” from Old French elancer, from e- “out” (see ex-) + lancer “to throw,” originally “to throw a lance,” from Late Latin lanceare, from Latin lancea (see lance (n.)).