oaf
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Pronunciation
- IPA: /əʊf/ (UK); /oʊf/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is a variant of earlier auf or aulf,[2][3][4][5] from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse alfr “elf”, also “silly person”,[6][2][3] or from Middle English alven “elf”.[4][5] It is related to elf.[6][2][3][4][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
An elf's child, a changeling left by fairies in place of a stolen child (1625).[7][2][3][4]
Semantic evolution
A changeling was thought to be deformed or foolish,[7][3] so the word came to mean a misbegotten or idiot child and then a simpleton.[7][3] The modern sense is a big, clumsy, stupid person.[6][4][5][1] Some dictionaries gave the plural as oaves until recently.[3]
Timeline
- 1610s – oafish.[3][2]
- 1621 – auf.[2]
- 1625 – an elf's child, a changeling.[7][2][4]
- 17th century – a simpleton.[3]
- 1883 – oafdom.[7]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A stupid or clumsy person, especially a large one; a lout.
- (archaic) A changeling or a deformed or foolish child.
Word family
- oafish
- oafishly
- oafishness
Related words
- elf
Usage notes
Random House gives churl and boor as synonyms, and dolt and ninny for the sense “simpleton”.[5]
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
- ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press