daff

Contents

EnglishEdit

PronunciationEdit

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

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)

1. A fool; an idiot; a blockhead.

Derived termsEdit

• bedaff
• daffish
• daffock
• daffy

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)

1. (intransitive) To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jamieson to this entry?)

2. (Britain, dialect, obsolete) To daunt.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Grose to this entry?)

Derived termsEdit

• daffing
• daffle

Etymology 3Edit

Variant of doff.

VerbEdit

daff ‎(third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)

1. (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.

2. (transitive) To turn (someone) aside; divert.

Etymology 4Edit

From daffodil.

NounEdit

daff ‎(plural daffs)

1. (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 […]

AnagramsEdit

• aff'd