deaf English · revision 10562

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 750|origins=ang dēaf}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /def/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|dēaf]] (about 750, in Cynewulf's Juliana),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from [[m|gem-pro|*daubaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) cognate with Dutch doof, German taub, Old Norse daufr and Gothic daufs, unperceptive.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) It goes back to an Indo-European base meaning dark or dulled, also seen in Greek tuphlós, blind, and Old Irish dub, black;^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) the ancestor probably referred to a general dullness of perception rather than any one sense.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lacking or defective in hearing: about 825 in the OED;^(OED 1989) in Old English also empty, barren.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Refusing to listen is from about 1200,^(Etymonline) and the noun use, deaf people, from about 1200 in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) ''As deaf as an adder'' is from Psalm 58,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and ''as deaf as a post'' from the mid-16th century.^(Cresswell 2021) The word rhymed with reef until the 18th century,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a pronunciation that survives widely in dialect and in the United States.^(Hoad 1986) ''Deafen'' is from 1597, in Shakespeare,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''deaf-mute'' from 1837, after French sourd-muet.^(Etymonline) The capitalized Deaf refers to the community of deaf people with its own culture and sign language.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 750 – dēaf.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – refusing to listen.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-16th century – as deaf as a post.^(Cresswell 2021)

+ * 1597 – deafen.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1837 – deaf-mute.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Partly or completely unable to [[hear]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Unwilling to listen; [[heedless]]: ''deaf to their cries''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of or relating to Deaf people and their culture.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''the deaf'': deaf people as a group.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[deafly]]

+ * [[deafness]]

+ * [[deafish]]

+ * [[deaf-mute]]

+ * [[deafen]]

+ * [[deaf-blind]]

+ * [[stone-deaf]]

+ * [[tone-deaf]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[dumb]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Collins notes that the deaf as a collective noun is often thought offensive, and phrases such as deaf people are preferred.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}