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woof

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Etymology and origin of the English word woof

Pronunciation

  • /wʊf/, /wuf/[1]
  • UK: /wuːf/[1]

woof1 weft

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
800 before 800, Corpus Glossary
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-

Etymology

The weaving word woof (weft) is inherited from Middle English oof, with an added w-,[2][3][4][5] inherited from Old English ōwef, also āwef,[6][2][7] formed from Old English ō- (“on”) + wef (“web”),[6][4][8] from wefan (“to weave”).[2][9][4] Hoad and Weekley take ōwef as itself an alteration of ōweb, āwebb, the source of dialect abb, after wefan;[10][11][12] the OED calls ōweb a parallel formation.[6] Wefan is from Proto-Germanic *webaną,[13][14] from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ-.[13][5] The initial w- was added under the influence of warp, in the phrase warp and woof,[2][10][6] or of weft and weave;[9][6][4][7] Skeat called it a popular etymology from weave.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The threads that cross the warp in a web: before 800, glossing Latin in the Corpus Glossary.[6][2] The Middle English oof is recorded from 1382,[2] and the Promptorium Parvulorum glosses it "thred for webbynge".[11] The spelling with w appears as wofe in 1540.[2]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that in early use the word could also mean a fabric in general, or simply thread or yarn, and in Middle English the cross-threads of a spider's web.[9] The OED records thread for making the woof from about 1529, and figurative uses, often paired with warp, from 1583.[6] From 1674 it also meant a woven fabric or its texture, often figuratively.[6] Johnson (1755) gave "the set of threads that crosses the warp; the weft" and "texture; cloath".[15] A verb, to weave in the manner of a woof, appears in 1894.[6]

Timeline

  • before 800 – Old English ōwef, the cross-threads of a web.[6][2]
  • 1382 – Middle English oof.[2]
  • c. 1529 – thread used to make the woof.[6]
  • 1540 – the spelling wofe.[2]
  • 1583 – figurative use, often with warp.[6]
  • 1674 – a woven fabric, or its texture.[6]
  • 1894 – verb, to weave.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The threads that run across a loom, crossing the warp; the weft.[8][16][6]
  2. A woven fabric, or its texture.[8][16][6]
  3. A basic element or material out of which something is made.[16][6]

Verb

  1. To weave threads across a warp.[16][6]

Word family

  • warp and woof

woof2 bark

Confidence
Established
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
1804 W. Tarras, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect

Etymology

The dog's woof (bark) is imitative of a dog's low, gruff bark.[6][9][10][16][12] The OED compares whoof,[6] and the Shorter Oxford wuff and wough.[12] The verb sense "to eat greedily" is an alteration of wolf,[12][6] and the noun sense "low-frequency sound" is a back-formation from woofer.[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a dog, to give a gruff, abrupt bark: 1804, as wouff, in W. Tarras's Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect.[6][9][16] The interjection and noun are recorded from 1839, in J. Ballantine's verse in Whistle-Binkie;[6][16] Etymonline finds wuff from 1824.[9]

Semantic evolution

Like the dog's bark it imitates, woof was soon used of people: to speak gruffly or "bark" at someone (1920).[17] In American slang, at first chiefly among African Americans, it came to mean to talk boastfully, emptily or aggressively (1930).[6][12] In Royal Air Force slang of the Second World War it meant to eat ravenously (1943), after wolf.[6][12] In sound reproduction a woof is a low note of poor quality from a loudspeaker, as opposed to a tweet (1961).[6][16] Later slang uses include Australian "to poke" (1977) and American college slang "to vomit" (1978).[17]

Timeline

  • 1804 – verb, of a dog: to bark gruffly.[6][16][9]
  • 1839 – interjection and noun, a dog's gruff bark.[6][16][9]
  • 1920 – to speak gruffly, to bark at someone.[17]
  • 1930 – US slang, to talk boastfully or aggressively.[6]
  • 1943 – RAF slang, to eat ravenously.[6]
  • 1961 – low-frequency sound from a loudspeaker.[6][16]

Meanings

Interjection

  1. The sound of a dog's low, gruff bark.[8][6]

Noun

  1. A low, gruff bark, as of a dog.[16][6]
  2. A low note produced by a loudspeaker, as opposed to a tweet.[16][6]

Verb

  1. Of a dog: to give a low, gruff bark: The old spaniel woofed at the postman.[8][16][6]
  2. (US slang) To talk in a boastful or aggressive way.[6][12]
  3. (colloquial) To eat greedily.[6][12]

Word family

  • woofer
  • subwoofer

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  6. ^ 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 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  15. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  17. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com

Related etymologies

  • stall · also from Proto-Germanic
  • warmth · also from Proto-Germanic
  • foam · also from Proto-Germanic
  • mold · also from Proto-Germanic
  • worm · also from Proto-Germanic
  • dwarf · also from Proto-Germanic
  • deed · also from Proto-Germanic
  • crab · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“Woof.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/woof. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·