Etymologically
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soft

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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

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