werf

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʋɛrf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: werf
• Rhymes: -ɛrf

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch werf. Related to werven. Compare English wharf. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Noun

werf m (plural werven, diminutive werfje n)

1. (regional, Southern, Belgian Dutch) Short for bouwwerf (“building site”).
2. Short for scheepswerf (“shipyard”).
3. wharf, quay
4. field of interest and action, chapter on a to do list

Derived terms

• bouwwerf
• jachtwerf
• scheepswerf
• werfleider

Etymology 2

From Middle Dutch werf, warf, from Old Dutch *warf, from Proto-West Germanic [Term?]. Cognate with Old Saxon hwarba, Old High German -warf, Old Frisian hwarf, hwerf. Related to werven in its original meaning of "to turn" (compare the frequentative verb wervelen and the noun wervel, and see *hwerban); the semantic development is analogous to that between keer and keren, and see English turn.

Noun

werf m (plural werven)

1. (obsolete) time, occasion, instance

   Synonyms: keer, maal

   Hij sprak twee werf tot de menigte. ― He addressed the crowd two times.

Usage notes

• Today only encountered in univerbations (see derived terms below), particularly driewerf, an archaism that is still occasionally recalled.

Derived terms

• achtwerf
• driewerf
• eenwerf
• menigwerf
• negenwerf
• tienwerf
• tweewerf
• veelwerf
• vierwerf
• vijfwerf
• zeswerf
• zevenwerf

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

werf

1. inflection of werven:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

German

Verb

werf

1. (colloquial) first-person singular present of werfen

   Synonym: (standard) werfe

2. (colloquial) singular imperative of werfen

   Synonym: (standard) wirf