neif
See also: nëif
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
From Old French neif, from Latin nātīvā (“female serf”). Doublet of naïf and native.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
neif (plural neifs)
- (historical) A woman born in the state of villeinage; a female serf.
- 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:
- Neifs indeed had also an appeal of rape, in case the lord violated them by force
Anagrams edit
Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “neif”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)
Volapük edit
Noun edit
neif (nominative plural neifs)