daff
Contents
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”), from Old Norse daufr (“deaf, stupid”), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf, stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *dheubh- (“to whisk, whirl, smoke, be obscure”). Cognate with Swedish döf (“deaf”), Danish døv (“deaf, stupid”). More at deaf.
NounEdit
daff (plural daffs)
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English daffen (“to render foolish”), from daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”). See above.
VerbEdit
daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)
- (intransitive) To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)
- (Britain, dialect, obsolete) To daunt.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Grose to this entry?)
Derived termsEdit
Etymology 3Edit
Variant of doff.
VerbEdit
daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)
- (transitive) To toss (aside); to dismiss.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3
- DON PEDRO. I would she had bestowed this dotage on me; I would have daffed all other respects and made her half myself.
- 1948, CS Lewis, ‘Notes on the Way’:
- Such is the record of Scripture. Nor can you daff it aside by saying that local and temporary conditions condemned women to silence and private life.
- 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3
- (transitive) To turn (someone) aside; divert.
Etymology 4Edit
From daffodil.
NounEdit
daff (plural daffs)
- (Britain, informal) A daffodil.
- Get your daffs here - £2 a bunch.
- 1934, Dorothy L. Sayers, The Nine Tailors
- You want a few more daffs on the decani side […]