orf

See also: Orf and ORF

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔːf/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔːf

Etymology 1

From Middle English orf, from Old English orf (“cattle, livestock”), from Proto-West Germanic *orb, from Proto-Germanic *urbą.

Akin to Old English ierfe (“inheritance, livestock, cattle”). More at erf.

Noun

orf (uncountable)

1. (obsolete) (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Cattle.

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “orf”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse hrufa (“scab”), from Proto-Germanic *hreubaz (whence also dandruff).

Noun

orf (uncountable)

1. (medicine) An exanthemous disease caused by a parapox virus, occurring primarily in sheep and goats but also capable of infecting humans.

Translations

an exanthemous disease

• Irish: salachar béil m
• Polish: niesztowica f, niesztowice f pl

Etymology 3

See orfe.

Noun

orf (plural orfs)

1. Alternative form of orfe (“type of fish”).

Etymology 4

Pronunciation spelling.

Adverb

orf (not comparable)

1. (pronunciation spelling) off
   • 1945, Enid Blyton, The Mystery of the Secret Room:

     'Yes – you clear orf!' said Mr Goon majestically, feeling that he really had got the better of those interfering kids this time.

Adjective

orf

1. (pronunciation spelling) off

Preposition

orf

1. (pronunciation spelling) off

Anagrams

• 'fro, FOR, for, for-, fro

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse orf, from Proto-Germanic *wurba-, related to *warpą. Cognate with Swedish orv, Old High German worf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔrv/
• Rhymes: -ɔrv

Noun

orf n (genitive singular orfs, nominative plural orf)

1. snath
2. string trimmer

   Synonym: sláttuorf n

Declension

Declension of orf (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	orf	orfið	orf	orfin
accusative	orf	orfið	orf	orfin
dative	orfi	orfinu	orfum	orfunum
genitive	orfs	orfsins	orfa	orfanna

Middle English

Etymology

PIE root
*h₃erbʰ-

Inherited from Old English orf, from Proto-West Germanic *orb, from Proto-Germanic *urbą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔrf/

Noun

orf (uncountable, dative singular orve) (uncommon, especially poetic)

1. Livestock, cattle; farm animals.
2. (specifically) A herd of sheep.

References

• “orf, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-06-2.

Old English

Etymology

PIE root
*h₃erbʰ-

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *orb, from Proto-Germanic *urbą. Cognate with Old Swedish orf.

Noun

orf n

1. cattle
2. livestock
   • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church

     Þæt fīfte wīte wæs cwealm on heora orfe, swā þæt on ðām lande fornēan nān orf ne belāf, buton Israheles bē ānsund ġestōd.

     The fifth plague was a pestilence among their livestock, such that in the land almost no livestock were left, except for those of Israel, who remained healthy.

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	orf	orf
accusative	orf	orf
genitive	orfes	orfa
dative	orfe	orfum

Descendants

• Middle English: orf