wharf

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wɔːf/ (UK); /wɔɹf/, /ʍɔɹf/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It comes from Middle English warf,^[2] from Old English hwearf “shore, bank where ships could tie up”, earlier “dam, embankment”,^{[3][2][4][5][6]} from Proto-Germanic *hwarbaz,^[2][4] related to Middle Low German werf “dam, wharf” and German Werft “shipyard”.^[2][4][6] It is related to Old English hweorfan “to turn”,^[4][5] perhaps in the sense of busy activity.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An embankment or dam (1038);^[2][7] a shore or bank where ships could tie up (after 1042).^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word came to mean a solid structure along the water's edge where ships may lie alongside to load and unload.^[7][3][5] The spelling wharf is first recorded in 1442.^[2] The verb, to bring to shore or unload at a wharf, is from 1629.^[7] Wharf rat is recorded from 1812.^[4]

Timeline

• 1038 – Old English hwearf, an embankment.^[2][7]
• 1320 – warf.^[2]
• 1442 – spelling wharf.^[2]
• 1629 – verb, to land at a wharf.^[7]
• 1812 – wharf rat.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A landing place or structure along a shore where ships tie up to load or unload; a quay or pier.
2. (obsolete) A shore or riverbank.

Verb

1. To moor a vessel at a wharf, or to place or store cargo on one.
2. To provide or protect with a wharf.
3. To tie up at a wharf.

Word family

• wharfmaster
• wharfage
• wharfinger
• wharf rat

Related words

• quay
• pier
• dock

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster gives wharves as the usual plural, also wharfs.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press