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scarf

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English has three words spelled scarf: a joint between timbers, a strip of cloth, and a slang verb meaning to eat greedily.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • UK: /skɑːf/[4]
  • US: /skɑɹf/[4]

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]
  • scrip
  • scarp

Usage notes

In Scotland and the north, scarf is also a name for the cormorant, from Old Norse.[3][13][2][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  12. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  17. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  18. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com