soft

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /sɒft/, US /sɑːft/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English softe,^[2][3] inherited from Old English sōfte (“gentle, mild-natured; comfortable, calm; luxurious”), earlier sēfte,^[4][3][5] the unmutated vowel coming from the adverb sōfte.^[3][5][2] It goes back to Proto-Germanic *samftijaz (“level, even, smooth, gentle, soft”),^[4] the source also of Old Saxon sāfti, Old High German semfti and German sanft, and with -ch- of Dutch zacht and German sacht,^[4][5] from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; as one, together with”).^[4] The etymological sense would be “smooth and agreeable”.^[4] It is related to same and seem.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Producing agreeable sensations; easy, quiet: about 1000 in the OED,^[6] in Ælfric's Homilies according to Barnhart.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From about 1200 of persons and hearts, “tender, yielding to emotions”, also “easily moved, docile”.^[4] Of material things, “not stiff, yielding readily to pressure”, it is from the mid-13th century,^[4] and of sounds and voices, “quiet, not loud or harsh”, from the early 13th century.^[4] From the late 14th century it also meant “indulgent” and “physically feeble, effeminate”,^[4] and “foolish, simple, silly” is from the 1620s.^[4] Of letters such as c and g pronounced with more sibilance it is from the 1630s,^[4] of water free from mineral salts from 1755,^[4] of coal from 1789,^[4] of non-alcoholic drinks by 1879,^[4] and of technology using natural resources by 1974.^[4] The adverb soft meant “gently” in Old English and “quietly” from the late 13th century,^[4] and the interjection “not so fast” is from the 1540s.^[4] As a noun, a fool, it is from 1854.^[4][6]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – agreeable, easy.^[6]
• c. 1200 – tender-hearted.^[4]
• early 13th century – quiet, of sound.^[4]
• mid-13th century – yielding to pressure.^[4]
• late 14th century – feeble.^[4]
• 1620s – foolish.^[4]
• 1755 – of water.^[4]
• 1879 – non-alcoholic.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Easily moulded, cut or worked; yielding readily to pressure.
2. Smooth or fine to the touch.
3. Not loud or harsh; quiet.
4. Not bright or glaring; subdued.
5. Mild; balmy: a soft breeze.
6. Gentle, kind or lenient.
7. Out of condition; flabby.
8. Of water, low in dissolved mineral salts.
9. Of a drink, non-alcoholic.
10. Of a consonant such as c or g, pronounced as a fricative or sibilant.

Adverb

1. Gently; softly.

Noun

1. A soft object or part.

Word family

• softly
• softness
• softish
• soften
• softy
• oversoft
• semisoft
• softback

Related words

• same
• seem
• software
• softball
• seemly

References

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