oaf English · revision 1376

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əʊf/ ''(UK)''; /oʊf/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a variant of earlier ''auf'' or ''aulf'',^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse ''alfr'' “elf”, also “silly person”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) or from Middle English ''alven'' “elf”.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) It is related to [[elf]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An elf's child, a changeling left by fairies in place of a stolen child (1625).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A changeling was thought to be deformed or foolish,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) so the word came to mean a misbegotten or idiot child and then a simpleton.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The modern sense is a big, clumsy, stupid person.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary) Some dictionaries gave the plural as ''oaves'' until recently.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1610s – ''oafish''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1621 – ''auf''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1625 – an elf's child, a changeling.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 17th century – a simpleton.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – ''oafdom''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A stupid or clumsy person, especially a large one; a [[lout]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[changeling]] or a deformed or foolish child.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[oafish]]

+ * [[oafishly]]

+ * [[oafishness]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[elf]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''churl'' and ''boor'' as synonyms, and ''dolt'' and ''ninny'' for the sense “simpleton”.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}