wharf English · revision 1153

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /wɔːf/ ''(UK)''; /wɔɹf/, /ʍɔɹf/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It comes from Middle English ''warf'',^(Barnhart 1995) from Old English ''hwearf'' “shore, bank where ships could tie up”, earlier “dam, embankment”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|gem-pro|*hwarbaz]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) related to Middle Low German ''werf'' “dam, wharf” and German ''Werft'' “shipyard”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) It is related to Old English ''hweorfan'' “to turn”,^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) perhaps in the sense of busy activity.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An embankment or dam (1038);^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) a shore or bank where ships could tie up (after 1042).^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word came to mean a solid structure along the water's edge where ships may lie alongside to load and unload.^(OED 1989)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) The spelling ''wharf'' is first recorded in 1442.^(Barnhart 1995) The verb, to bring to shore or unload at a wharf, is from 1629.^(OED 1989) ''Wharf rat'' is recorded from 1812.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1038 – Old English ''hwearf'', an embankment.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1320 – ''warf''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1442 – spelling ''wharf''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1629 – verb, to land at a wharf.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1812 – ''wharf rat''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A landing place or structure along a shore where ships tie up to load or unload; a [[quay]] or [[pier]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A shore or riverbank.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To moor a vessel at a wharf, or to place or store cargo on one.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To provide or protect with a wharf.^(AHD)^(RHWU)

+ # To tie up at a wharf.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[wharfmaster]]

+ * [[wharfage]]

+ * [[wharfinger]]

+ * [[wharf rat]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[quay]]

+ * [[pier]]

+ * [[dock]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Merriam-Webster gives ''wharves'' as the usual plural, also ''wharfs''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}