ef

See also: ef-, -ef, and EF

English

Alternative forms

• eff

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

ef (plural efs)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F.
   • 2004 Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, p. 170

     I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.

Derived terms

• eff

Translations

name of the letter F, f

• Arabic: إِف‎ m (ʾef)
• Asturian: efe (ast) f
• Catalan: efa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (English letter names are called as in English, no other standard Mandarin name exists)

• Esperanto: fo (eo)
• Finnish: äf (fi), äffä (fi)
• French: effe (fr) m or f
• Galician: efe (gl) m
• Greek: εφ n (ef)
• Hindi: एफ़ (ef), एफ (eph)
• Ido: fe (io)
• Irish: eif, fern
• Italian: effe (it) m or f
• Japanese: エフ (ja) (efu)
• Korean: 에프 (epeu)
• Latin: ef (la)
• Malay: ef
• Marathi: एफ (eph)
• Occitan: èfa f
• Persian: اف‎ (fa) (ef)
• Portuguese: efe (pt) m
• Russian: эф (ru) n (ef)
• Spanish: efe (es) f
• Thai: เอฟ (th) (ef)
• Turkish: fe (tr)
• Welsh: èf f (with reference to Welsh), èff (with reference to other languages)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

Conjunction

ef

1. (nonstandard) Pronunciation spelling of if, representing dialectal English.
   • 1882, James Jackson, Tom Terror, the Outlaw:

     Captain Tom would have hired him to hunt down his own child, ef Rosebud hadn’t interfered.

Anagrams

• F&E, FE, Fe, f.e.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛf]

Noun

ef n

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F.

Further reading

• ef in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• ef in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse ef, from Proto-Germanic *jabai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛːv/
• Rhymes: -ɛːv

Conjunction

ef

1. if

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ef/, [ɛf]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ef/, [ɛf]

Noun

ef f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter F.

Usage notes

• Multiple Latin names for the letter F, f have been suggested. The most common is ef or a syllabic f, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter, fē, əf, fə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus, which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters) ιφφε (iphphe).

Coordinate terms

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

• Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63

Latvian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛf]

(file)

Noun

ef m (invariable)

1. The Latvian name of the Latin script letter F/f.

See also

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

Old French

Alternative forms

• e, ep

Etymology

From Latin apem, accusative singular of apis.

Noun

ef m (oblique plural es, nominative singular es, nominative plural ef)

1. bee

Descendants

• Picard: é

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (ef)

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *jabai, originally the dative of *jabą (“doubt”), whence ef (“doubt”).

Conjunction

ef

1. if

Descendants

• Icelandic: ef
• Old Swedish: ef, em, um
  • Swedish: om
  • Norwegian:
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: um (influenced by um < umb)
• Old Danish: æf, æm, um
  • Danish: om
    • Norwegian Bokmål: om
      • → Norwegian Nynorsk: om

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *jabą.

Alternative forms

• if

Noun

ef

1. (obsolete) doubt

   mér er til efs

   I doubt

   (literally, “for me is at doubt”)

Declension

  Declension of ef (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ef	efit	ef	efin
accusative	ef	efit	ef	efin
dative	efi	efinu	efum	efunum
genitive	efs	efsins	efa	efanna

Derived terms

• iflaust (“doubtless, undoubted”)

Descendants

• Old Swedish: iæf
  • Swedish: jäv

Old Saxon

Conjunction

ef

1. if, when

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *éy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːv/
• Rhymes: -eːv

Pronoun

ef

1. (literary) he; him

Synonyms

• e, o (colloquial)