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Webster 1913 Edition

(găf′fẽr)

Noun.

[Possibly contr. fr.

godfather

; but prob. fr.

gramfer

for

grandfather

. Cf.

An old fellow; an aged rustic.

Go to each

gaffer

and each goody.

Fawkes.

☞ Gaffer was originally a respectful title, now degenerated into a term of familiarity or contempt when addressed to an aged man in humble life.

A foreman or overseer of a gang of laborers.

[Prov. Eng.]

Noun.

[Heb. gebar, a man, vir.] A word or respect, which seems to have degenerated into a term of familiarity or contempt. [Little used.]