golf

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ɡɒlf/, US /ɡɑːlf/^[1]

Etymology

It is Scots golf, gouf,^[2][3] probably an alteration borrowed from Middle Dutch colf (“stick, club, bat”), colve,^[2][3][4] used in the Netherlands for a ball game called kolven;^[3] it is related to German Kolben “club, mace” and Old Norse kolfr “clapper of a bell”,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *kulb-.^[3] NODE notes that golf is recorded before these Dutch games,^[5] and Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^[6] Despite a story that goes round the internet, golf is not an acronym.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

1457, in a Scottish statute on forbidden games, alongside fut-bol.^[2][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The game was played in Scotland from the 15th century, or the 14th in Etymonline, and became popular in England in the 1500s.^[3][2] An ordinance of 1491 decreed that football, golf and other “unprofitable sports” should not be used anywhere in the realm.^[2] The golf ball is attested from the 1540s,^[2] golf widow from 1890,^[2] and the motorized golf cart from 1951.^[2] The verb, to play golf, is from 1800.^[7][3][2] Some old-fashioned players pronounce it /ɡɒf/.^[1]

Timeline

• 1457 – in a Scottish statute.^[2][3]
• 1491 – forbidden as an unprofitable sport.^[2]
• 1540s – golf ball.^[2]
• 1800 – verb.^[7][3]
• 1890 – golf widow.^[2]
• 1951 – golf cart.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A game played on a large outdoor course in which players use clubs to hit a small hard ball into a series of holes, usually 9 or 18, in as few strokes as possible.
2. The letter G in a phonetic alphabet.

Verb

1. To play golf.

Word family

• golfer
• barnyard golf
• golf bag
• golf ball
• golf cart
• golf club
• golf course
• golf widow

Related words

• links

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press