golf

See also: Golf and gólf

English

Etymology

The word is first known in English from the 15th century from Scots. Although the etymology is uncertain, the most likely origin is that it comes from the Middle Dutch colve, colf (“club”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kulbô (“club”), related to German Kolben (“piston, rod”), Swedish kolv (“piston, rod”), Old English clopp (“rock; cliff”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡɒlf/
  • (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /ɡɒf/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɑlf/, /ɡɔlf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒlf

Noun

golf (uncountable)

1. (sports) A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes.
2. The letter G in the ICAO spelling alphabet.

Derived terms

Terms derived from the noun “golf”

• code golf
• golf ball
• golf cart
• golf club

• golf course
• golf hole
• golf pencil
• golf umbrella

• golf widow
• miniature golf

Translations

ball game

• Afrikaans: gholf
• Albanian: golf (sq) m
• Amharic: ጎልፍ (golf)
• Arabic: جُولْف‎ m (golf), جُولْف‎ m (gulf), غُولْف‎ m (golf), غُولْف‎ m (gulf), غُولْف‎ m (ḡūlf)
• Armenian: գոլֆ (hy) (golf)
• Asturian: golf m
• Azerbaijani: qolf
• Basque: golf (eu)
• Belarusian: гольф m (holʹf)
• Bengali: গল্‌ফ (gôl‌ph)
• Bulgarian: голф m (golf)
• Burmese: ဂေါက် (my) (gauk), ဂေါက်သီး (my) (gauksi:)
• Catalan: golf (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 哥爾夫球, 哥尔夫球 (go¹ ji⁵ fu¹ kau⁴), 高爾夫球, 高尔夫球 (gou¹ ji⁵ fu¹ kau⁴)

  Mandarin: 高爾夫球 (zh), 高尔夫球 (zh) (gāo'ěrfū qiú)

  Min Nan: 山球 (zh-min-nan) (soaⁿ-kiû), 高爾夫球, 高尔夫球 (ko-ní-hu-kiû), 戛仔球 (khat-á-kiû)

• Czech: golf (cs) m
• Danish: golf (da) c
• Dutch: golf (nl) n
• Esperanto: golfo (eo)
• Estonian: golf (et)
• Faroese: golf n
• Finnish: golf (fi)
• French: golf (fr) m
• Galician: golf (gl) m
• Georgian: გოლფი (golpi)
• German: Golf (de) n
• Greek: γκολφ (el) (gkolf)
• Haitian Creole: gòf
• Hebrew: גּוֹלְף‎ (he) m (golf)
• Hindi: गोल्फ़ m (golf), गोल्फ (hi) m (golph)
• Hungarian: golf (hu)
• Icelandic: golf (is) n
• Ido: golfo (io)
• Indonesian: golf (id)
• Irish: galf m
• Italian: golf (it) m
• Japanese: ゴルフ (ja) (gorufu)
• Kannada: ಗಾಲ್ಫ್ (gālph)
• Kazakh: гольф (golʹf)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 골프 (ko) (golpeu)
• Kyrgyz: гольф (ky) (golʹf)
• Lao: ກອຟ (kǭp)

• Latin: pilamalleus m (New Latin)
• Latvian: golfs m
• Lithuanian: golfas m
• Luxembourgish: golf
• Macedonian: голф m (golf)
• Malay: golf
• Malayalam: ഗോൾഫ് (ml) (gōḷphŭ)
• Maori: hahaupōro
• Mongolian: гольф (mn) (golʹf)
• Navajo: jooł yázhí náás yikalí, nʼdilkal
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: golf (no) m

  Nynorsk: golf m

• Occitan: gòlf m
• Persian: گلف‎ (fa) (golf)
• Polish: golf (pl)
• Portuguese: golfe (pt) m
• Romanian: golf (ro) n
• Russian: гольф (ru) m (golʹf)
• Scots: gowf
• Scottish Gaelic: golf m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: голф m

  Roman: golf (sh) m

• Sinhalese: ගොල්ෆ් (golf)
• Slovak: golf (sk) m
• Slovene: golf m
• Spanish: golf (es) m
• Swahili: gofu (sw)
• Swedish: golf (sv) c
• Tagalog: golp
• Tajik: голф (tg) (golf)
• Tamil: கோல்ஃப் (kōlf)
• Telugu: గోల్ఫ్ (te) (gōlph)
• Thai: กอล์ฟ (th) (gɔ́ɔp)
• Turkish: golf (tr)
• Turkmen: golf
• Ukrainian: гольф (uk) m (holʹf)
• Urdu: گولف‎ m (golf)
• Uyghur: گولف توپى‎ (golf topi)
• Uzbek: golf (uz)
• Vietnamese: golf (vi), gôn (vi)
• Welsh: golff m
• Yiddish: גאָלף‎ (golf)

the letter “G”

• Estonian: Gustav
• Finnish: Gideon

• Italian: Genova (it)
• Russian: (for both Cyrillic and Roman) Гали́на (ru) f (Galína), Григо́рий (ru) m (Grigórij)

References

• “Golf” in Michael Quinion, Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, 2004, →ISBN.

Verb

golf (third-person singular simple present golfs, present participle golfing, simple past and past participle golfed)

1. (intransitive) To play the game of golf.
   • (Can we date this quote by Rudyard Kipling and provide title, author's full name, and other details?)

     Last mystery of all, he learned to golf.

2. (computing) To write something in as few characters as possible (e.g. in code golf, regex golf)

Translations

play golf

• Bulgarian: играя голф (igraja golf)
• Dutch: golfen (nl)
• Finnish: golfata (fi)
• French: golfer (fr)

• German: golfen (de)
• Hungarian: golfozik (hu)
• Ido: golf-ludar (io)

Anagrams

• GLOF, flog

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Asturian

Noun

golf m (uncountable)

1. (sports) golf

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Catalan

Etymology 1

From Vulgar Latin or Late Latin colfus, colphus, culfus, alteration of colpus, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos).

Noun

golf m (plural golfs)

1. gulf

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English golf.

Noun

golf m (uncountable)

1. golf

Derived terms

• golfista

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Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔlf/

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English golf.

Noun

golf m

1. golf (a ball game)

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	golf	golfy
genitive	golfu	golfů
dative	golfu	golfům
accusative	golf	golfy
vocative	golfe	golfy
locative	golfu	golfech
instrumental	golfem	golfy

Derived terms

• golfový
• golfista

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Golf.

Noun

golf m

1. bay, gulf

Declension

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	golf	golfy
genitive	golfu	golfů
dative	golfu	golfům
accusative	golf	golfy
vocative	golfe	golfy
locative	golfu	golfech
instrumental	golfem	golfy

Further reading

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

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɣɔlf/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlf

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch gelve, from Proto-Germanic *gelbaną, Influenced by Late Latin colfus, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos).

Noun

golf f (plural golven, diminutive golfje n)

1. wave
2. (physics) wave
3. (geography) gulf

Synonyms

• (wave): waag

Derived terms

• radiogolf
• vloedgolf
• zwaartekrachtsgolf

Verb

golf

1. first-person singular present indicative of golven
2. imperative of golven

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English golf.

Noun

golf n (uncountable)

1. golf

Verb

golf

1. first-person singular present indicative of golfen
2. imperative of golfen

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Faroese

Etymology

From English golf, from Scots.

Noun

golf n (genitive singular golfs, uncountable)

1. golf

Declension

Declension of golf (singular only)
n3s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	golf	golfið
accusative	golf	golfið
dative	golfi	golfinum
genitive	golfs	golfsins

Derived terms

• golfbóltur m
• golfbreyt f
• golfleikari m
• golfvøllur m

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Finnish

(index g)

Etymology

From English golf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡolf/, [ˈɡo̞lf]
• Rhymes: -olf
• Syllabification: golf

Noun

golf

1. golf

Declension

Inflection of golf (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		golf	golfit
genitive		golfin	golfien
partitive		golfia	golfeja
illative		golfiin	golfeihin
		singular	plural
nominative		golf	golfit
accusative	nom.	golf	golfit
	gen.	golfin
genitive		golfin	golfien
partitive		golfia	golfeja
inessive		golfissa	golfeissa
elative		golfista	golfeista
illative		golfiin	golfeihin
adessive		golfilla	golfeilla
ablative		golfilta	golfeilta
allative		golfille	golfeille
essive		golfina	golfeina
translative		golfiksi	golfeiksi
instructive		—	golfein
abessive		golfitta	golfeitta
comitative		—	golfeineen

Possessive forms of golf (type risti)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	golfini	golfimme
2nd person	golfisi	golfinne
3rd person	golfinsa

Synonyms

• kolopallo

Derived terms

• verbs: golfata

Compounds

compounds

• golfhousut
• golfinpelaaja
• golfkenttä
• golfkierros
• golfklubi
• golfmaila

• golfosake
• golfpallo
• minigolf
• pienoisgolf
• ratagolf

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

golf m (plural golf)

1. golf

Further reading

• “golf” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Galician

Noun

golf m (uncountable)

1. golf

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German

Verb

golf

1. Imperative singular of golfen.
2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of golfen.

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Hungarian

Etymology

From English golf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡolf]
• Hyphenation: golf
• Rhymes: -olf

Noun

golf (plural golfok)

1. golf

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
	singular	plural
nominative	golf	golfok
accusative	golfot	golfokat
dative	golfnak	golfoknak
instrumental	golffal	golfokkal
causal-final	golfért	golfokért
translative	golffá	golfokká
terminative	golfig	golfokig
essive-formal	golfként	golfokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	golfban	golfokban
superessive	golfon	golfokon
adessive	golfnál	golfoknál
illative	golfba	golfokba
sublative	golfra	golfokra
allative	golfhoz	golfokhoz
elative	golfból	golfokból
delative	golfról	golfokról
ablative	golftól	golfoktól
non-attributive possessive - singular	golfé	golfoké
non-attributive possessive - plural	golféi	golfokéi

Possessive forms of golf
possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	golfom	golfjaim
2nd person sing.	golfod	golfjaid
3rd person sing.	golfja	golfjai
1st person plural	golfunk	golfjaink
2nd person plural	golfotok	golfjaitok
3rd person plural	golfjuk	golfjaik

Derived terms

• golfoz
• golfozik

(Compound words):

• golfklub
• golfnadrág
• golfpálya

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Icelandic

Etymology

From English golf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔlv/
• Rhymes: -ɔlv

Noun

golf n (genitive singular golfs, no plural)

1. golf

Declension

declension of golf

n-s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	golf	golfið
accusative	golf	golfið
dative	golfi	golfinu
genitive	golfs	golfsins

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Italian

Noun

golf m (invariable)

1. golf
2. jumper, cardigan

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From English golf

Noun

golf m (definite singular golfen, uncountable)

1. golf (a game played with a golf club and golf ball)

Derived terms

• golfbane
• golfer
• golfklubb

• golfkølle
• golfspiller

Etymology 2

From Italian golfo and French golfe

Noun

golf m (definite singular golfen, indefinite plural golfer, definite plural golfene)

1. a gulf (large bay)

Derived terms

• Golfstrømmen
• Mexicogolfen

References

• “golf” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

From English golf

Noun

golf m (definite singular golfen, uncountable)

1. golf (a game played with a golf club and golf ball)

Derived terms

• golfbane
• golfklubb
• golfkølle

Etymology 2

From Italian golfo and French golfe

Noun

golf m (definite singular golfen, indefinite plural golfar, definite plural golfane)

1. a gulf (large bay)

Derived terms

• Mexicogolfen

References

• “golf” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔlf/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

golf m inan

1. golf
2. turtleneck, polo-neck

Declension

declension of golf

	singular	plural
nominative	golf	golfy
genitive	golfu	golfów
dative	golfowi	golfom
accusative	golf	golfy
instrumental	golfem	golfami
locative	golfie	golfach
vocative	golfie	golfy

Noun

golf m anim

1. Volkswagen Golf car

Declension

declension of golf

	singular	plural
nominative	golf	golfy
genitive	golfa	golfów
dative	golfowi	golfom
accusative	golfa	golfy
instrumental	golfem	golfami
locative	golfie	golfach
vocative	golfie	golfy

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Portuguese

Noun

golf m (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of golfe

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Serbo-Croatian

Noun

golf m (Cyrillic spelling голф)

1. golf

Declension

Declension of golf

	singular
nominative	golf
genitive	golfa
dative	golfu
accusative	golf
vocative	golfe
locative	golfu
instrumental	golfom

Derived terms

• golfaš
• golfer

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Slovak

Noun

golf m (genitive singular golfu, nominative plural golfy, genitive plural golfov, declension pattern of dub)

1. golf
2. (geography) bay, gulf

Declension

Declension of golf

	singular	plural
nominative	golf	golfy
genitive	golfu	golfov
dative	golfu	golfom
accusative	golf	golfy
locative	golfe	golfoch
instrumental	golfom	golfmi

Derived terms

• golfový
• golfský

Further reading

• golf in Slovak dictionaries at korpus.sk

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Spanish

Etymology

From English golf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡolf/

Noun

golf m (uncountable)

1. golf

Derived terms

• golfista
• palo de golf
• salsa golf

 

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Swedish

Noun

golf c

1. gulf, bay
2. golf; a sport
3. Obsolete spelling of golv

Declension

Declension of golf
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	golf	golfen	golfer	golferna
Genitive	golfs	golfens	golfers	golfernas

Declension of golf 2
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	golf	golfen	—	—
Genitive	golfs	golfens	—	—

Related terms

• golfa
• golfare
• golfbana
• golfklubb
• golfklubba
• Mexikanska golfen

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Vietnamese

Noun

golf

1. golf

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West Frisian

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch golf.

Noun

golf c (plural golven, diminutive golfke)

1. wave (motion in a liquid)

   Synonym: weach

2. wave, gush
3. wave (in any other medium or field)

   Synonym: weach

4. (in the diminutive) tilde

Further reading

• “golf (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011