The thought struck me. I am fairly confident there is no source that explains this but where did the word elf come from in TES? I mean within the lore. Considering that elf is usually an insult towards mer. Because in my head Mer are not elves. Is there a species that was called elf? Was it just a name attributed to them by man?

Any ideas? Why would the word elf become something that describes the Mer?