laf

laf m

1. alternative form of llaf

• Meyer, G. (1891) “ľaf”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 233

From Middle Dutch laf, from Proto-Germanic *laba-, from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”).^[1] Cognate with German laff (“slack, insipid”).

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑf

laf (comparative laffer, superlative lafst)

1. cowardly

   Maar de algemene regel is dat de man, "zwak of sterk", volgens Kuyper "Koning in zijn huis" is en dat "Een man die zijn vrouw in huis 'de baas laat spelen' laf en onmannelijk is.^(WP) — But the general rule is that the man, "weak or strong," according to Kuyper "is king of his house" and that "a man who lets his wife 'play the boss' is cowardly and unmanly."

• → Papiamentu: laf

• afl.

laf

1. word

• laflık

From Old Norse laf, from Proto-Germanic *lappa-, of uncertain origin, possibly Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang loosely”).^[1][2] If so, doublet of lafa.

• IPA^(key): /laːv/
• Rhymes: -aːv

laf n (genitive singular lafs, nominative plural löf)

1. lap, skirt (of a coat)

• afl

• IPA^(key): /laːf/

laf

1. second-person singular imperative of lafen

laf

1. (Early Middle English) alternative form of lof (“loaf, bread”)

From Proto-West Germanic *laibu, from Proto-Germanic *laibō. More at lǣfan.

• IPA^(key): /lɑːf/

lāf f

1. remains, remainder, left
   • c. 1011, Byrhtferth, Manual, line 125

     Nu þǣr ys ān tō lāfe; gif þære Aprili.

     Now there is one left; give that April.

   • c. 971, Unknown, "The Blicking Homilies"

     ...forþon nū ġīt þrȳ dagas tō lāfe syndon þæt hīe hine willað ācwellan and him tō mete dōn.

     ...for three days yet remain, and then they will slay and eat him.

2. legacy
3. heirloom
4. widow

Strong ō-stem:

• Middle English: love, lave, leve, loove, lafe, læve, loave (Early Middle English)
  • English: lave
  • Scots: lave

From Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą, from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to break”). Cognates include Old English lēaf, Old Saxon lōf and Old Dutch lōf.

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaːf/

lāf n

1. leaf

• West Frisian: leaf

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish لاف (laf, “boast; chat”), from Persian لاف (lâf).

laf n (plural lafuri)

1. twaddle

From Proto-Cushitic. Cognates include Oromo lafee and Rendille laf, Jiiddu lafi.^[1]

laf ?

1. bone

From Ottoman Turkish لاف (laf, “boast; chat”), from Persian لاف (lâf).

• IPA^(key): /lɑf/, /ɫɑf/

laf (definite accusative lafı, plural laflar)

1. word

• “laf”, in Turkish dictionaries, Türk Dil Kurumu
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “laf”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “لاف”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[2], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1619

laf (nominative plural lafs)

1. half