scarf

scarf¹ joint between timbers

Etymology

The joint is inherited from Middle English scarf, also skarf, first recorded in the compound scarfneil, a nail for fastening such a joint.^[5][6][7] It is probably borrowed from Old Norse skarfr, the diagonally cut end of a board, also a nail for fastening a joint,^[8][7][5][9] compare Swedish skarv (“seam, scarf”) and Norwegian skarv.^[6][9][8] Dictionary.com and Wiktionary derive the Norse noun from skera (“to cut”).^[10][11] Klein and the OED relate these words to Old English scearfian (“to scrape, cut into shreds”) and sceorfan (“to gnaw, bite”),^[9][3][6] and Barnhart adds Old High German scarbōn (“to cut into pieces”) and Middle Low German scharven;^[6] Etymonline traces them to Proto-Germanic *skarfaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to cut”).^[8] Hoad, the Shorter Oxford and Ayto think the word may have come into English through Old French *escarf, modern French écart, from *escarver.^[12][13][1] The OED calls it of uncertain origin: similar, chiefly nautical words exist in French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, but are recorded much later than in English, and the wider meaning of the Swedish word gives a slight presumption for a Scandinavian source.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Only the compound scarfneil is recorded at first, in the Canterbury Cathedral accounts of 1276.^[5][6] The OED's first record of the joint itself, by which two timbers are joined lengthwise with their ends halved, notched or cut away, is from 1497,^[3] and Merriam-Webster dates it to the 15th century.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Hoad notes that the word was originally nautical.^[12] In shipbuilding it also meant the overlapping of neighbouring timbers in a ship's frame (1711–1850),^[3] and in metal-working it is recorded from 1843.^[3] The verb, to join by a scarf, is first found in John Smith's Sea Grammar (1627);^[3][2][8] from 1831 it also meant to bevel the edges of metal pieces before welding them.^[3] In whaling a scarf was a long cut in a whale's body, from 1851 in Melville's Moby-Dick, and in forestry the notch cut in a trunk to steer its fall (1863);^[3] the OED derives these probably from the joint.^[3] In Shetland the verb meant to overlap two pieces of wood.^[14]

Timeline

• 1276 – scarfneil, a nail for a scarf joint.^[5][6]
• 1497 – a joint connecting two timbers lengthwise.^[3]
• 1627 – verb, to join by a scarf.^[3][2]
• 1711–1850 – the overlapping of timbers in a ship's frame (obsolete).^[3]
• 1831 – verb, to bevel metal edges for welding.^[3]
• 1851 – whaling, a long cut in a whale's body.^[3]
• 1863 – forestry, a notch cut in a trunk when felling.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A joint in which the ends of two pieces of timber or metal are bevelled or notched so that they overlap and form one piece; a scarf joint.^[2][3][13]
2. Either of the cut ends that fit together in such a joint.^[2][13]
3. A long cut made along a whale's body before the blubber is removed.^[2][3]
4. The notch or sloping face cut in a tree trunk when it is felled.^[2][3]

Verb

1. To join pieces of timber with a scarf joint.^[2][3][13]
2. To bevel the ends of pieces of metal that are to be welded.^[3][13]
3. To cut into a whale and strip off its blubber; to flense.^[2][3]

scarf² strip of cloth

Etymology

The strip of cloth is probably borrowed from Old Northern French escarpe (“sash, sling”),^{[3][8][6][2][15]} the northern form of Old French escherpe, also escharpe, a pilgrim's scrip hung from the neck,^[3][8][6][1] modern French écharpe.^[3][9] The OED notes that its history is obscure, since it is not recorded before the mid-16th century.^[3] The form scarp appears almost as early in a heraldic sense, and may have been the original English form: the OED compares the change of a final p to f after a liquid in scalp.^[3][8] The American Heritage Dictionary takes the word as a variant of that form,^[7] and the Shorter Oxford as an alteration of it by association with the joint.^[13] The origin of the French word is disputed:^[6][3][2] Barnhart, Ayto and the American Heritage Dictionary derive it from Frankish *skirpja (“little bag woven of rushes”), from Latin scirpus (“rush, bulrush”),^[6][1][7] and Klein through Late Latin scirpa from scirpea (“basket made of rushes”);^[9] the OED takes it as Germanic, comparing Old Norse skreppa (“scrip, small bag”),^[3][8] and Merriam-Webster as an alteration of escrepe, from Medieval Latin scrippum (“pilgrim's scrip”).^[2] The French word was also borrowed as Italian sciarpa, Spanish charpa, German Schärpe and Dutch sjerp.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A broad band of silk or other material worn by soldiers or officials across the body from one shoulder to the opposite hip, or round the waist; a sash: before 1555.^[3][15] The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins notes that it was worn chiefly by officials and soldiers and served for carrying things.^[16]

Semantic evolution

Also before 1555, in a letter of Lady Fane printed by Foxe, the word was used of a band worn round the neck as part of a clergyman's dress.^[3] From 1560, in John Heywood, it was a strip of fine material worn loosely over the shoulders as an ornament,^[3] and later, from 1739, the black scarf worn by mourners at funerals.^[3] The modern sense, a band of warm, soft material worn round the neck in cold weather, is recorded from 1823 in the OED^[3] and by 1844 in Etymonline.^[8] Other uses were a blindfold or veil (1587–1656) and a sling for an injured limb (1598–1828),^[3] and in heraldry it is recorded from 1688.^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as anything that hangs loose on the shoulders or dress.^[17] The verb, to wrap with or as with a scarf, dates from 1598;^[3][2] Shakespeare used it figuratively in Macbeth and of wrapping a garment round oneself in Hamlet.^[3] The plural scarfs has never gone out of use, but from the early 18th century scarves became common, on the model of halves;^[3][8] the OED notes that no other noun not of native origin changed its f to v in this way.^[3] In Shetland, to beat the scarf was to strike one's arms across the chest for warmth.^[14]

Timeline

• before 1555 – a sash worn by soldiers or officials; a clergyman's neckband.^[3]
• 1560 – a strip of fine material worn loosely over the shoulders.^[3]
• 1587–1656 – a blindfold or veil (obsolete).^[3]
• 1598 – verb, to wrap with a scarf.^[3][2]
• 1598–1828 – a sling for an injured limb (obsolete).^[3]
• 1688 – heraldry, a narrow band.^[3]
• 1739 – a black scarf worn by mourners.^[3]
• 1823 – a warm band worn round the neck in cold weather.^[3]
• 1865 – a necktie or cravat.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A piece of cloth worn round the neck, head or shoulders for warmth or decoration: He wound a woollen scarf twice round his neck.^[18][2][3]
2. A sash worn across the body or round the waist, especially as a sign of rank or office.^[2][3][13]
3. A band worn round the neck by clergy, with its ends hanging down in front.^[3][13]
4. A band of crape worn over the shoulder by mourners at a funeral.^[2][3]

Verb

1. To wrap, cover or adorn with or as with a scarf.^[18][2][3]
2. To throw on a garment loosely, like a scarf.^[2][3]

Word family

• scarfless
• scarflike
• scarfpin

scarf³ to eat greedily

Etymology

The slang word for eating greedily is a variant of scoff in the same sense,^{[3][13][15][2][19][7]} with the “r” probably added by speakers of accents that pronounce r who mistook its vowel for the vowel of an “ar” in an accent that drops its “r”.^[10] Etymonline also allows an imitative origin; it notes that the nautical slang scoff (1846) is said to be a variant of scaff, recorded by 1797, but that the group is of obscure origin.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun meaning food: 1932, in the Baltimore Evening Sun,^[3][8] a record that Green's Dictionary of Slang dates to 1933.^[19]

Semantic evolution

The phrase knock a scarf, to eat, is recorded in African-American slang from 1942.^[19] The verb appears in Dan Burley's Original Handbook of Harlem Jive (1944),^[19] though the OED's first record is from 1960 and Etymonline calls it American teenage slang of that year.^[3][8] It is often used with up or down,^[3][2] and Merriam-Webster also records the sense of taking something eagerly, as in grabbing the best seats.^[2] The spelling scorf, to eat voraciously, is found in British slang from 1864.^[19]

Timeline

• 1932 – noun, food (US slang).^[3][8]
• 1942 – knock a scarf, to eat.^[19]
• 1944 – verb, to eat.^[19]
• 1960 – verb, to eat greedily, also with up and down.^[3][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (slang) To eat quickly or greedily, often with down or up: The kids scarfed down the pizza in minutes.^[2][3][13]
2. (slang) To grab or take something eagerly, often with up.^[2]

Noun

1. (US slang) Food.^[3][13][19]