straff

From late Middle High German straf, cognate with Dutch straf, with further origin uncertain. However, a semantic connection Proto-Indo-European *(s)ter(h₁)- (“to be stiff; be rigid; exert”) (whence Proto-Germanic *staraz (“stiff”)) has been proposed (DWDS).

• IPA^(key): /ʃtʁaf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: straff

straff (strong nominative masculine singular straffer, comparative straffer, superlative am straffsten)

1. (also figurative) tight, firm, of an object that could also be slack

   ein straffes Programm ― a tight schedule

   • c. 1914, Franz Kafka, Der Prozess [The Trial], Berlin: Die Schmiede, published 1925:

     Er wandte ihm sein Gesicht zu, dessen viele straffe Falten nicht Alter, sondern Kraft zu beweisen schienen, und fing sofort wieder zu suchen an.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• Straffheit

• “straff” in Duden online
• “straff” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Borrowed from Middle Low German straffen, from Proto-West Germanic *strēpōn, of uncertain ultimate origin, but possibly related to *streupan (“to squeeze, press, graze”).^[1] Cognate with Swedish straff; compare with German Strafe.

straff n (genitive singular straffs, nominative plural ströff)

1. (dated) punishment, penalty
2. the state of being confined to one's home; house arrest, the state of being grounded

• “straff” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

From Middle Low German or German Low German; compare with German Strafe.

straff m (definite singular straffen, indefinite plural straffer, definite plural straffene)

1. a punishment
2. a penalty

• straffbar
• straffe

straff

1. imperative of straffe

• “straff” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Middle Low German or German Low German; compare with German Strafe.

straff f (definite singular straffa, indefinite plural straffer, definite plural straffene)

1. a punishment
2. a penalty

• “straff” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• Audio (Gotland):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -af

From Middle Low German straffen, from Proto-West Germanic *strēpōn, of uncertain ultimate origin, but possibly related to *streupan (“to squeeze, press, graze”).^[1]

Compare with German Strafe. Etymologies 2, 3, and 4 below are all clippings of compounds from Etymology 1.

straff n

1. punishment, penalty

   Brott och straff

   Crime and Punishment (a novel)

2. (law) sentence

• straffa

Clipping of straffspark

straff c

1. (soccer, common) penalty kick

   Synonym: straffspark

Clipping of straffslag n

straff c

1. (ice hockey) penalty shot

Clipping of straffkast n

straff c

1. (handball) penalty throw

   Synonym: 7-meterskast

2. (basketball) free throw

   Synonym: (Anglicism) frikast

• straff in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• straff in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• straff in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)