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Webster 1913 Edition

Erf

‖

Erf

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Erven
(#)
.
[D.]
A garden plot, usually about half an acre.
[Cape Colony]

Definition 2024

erf

erf

English

Alternative forms

  • airf

Noun

erf ‎(plural erfs)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, rare) Inheritance; patrimony.
    Son, you will have this farm to erf.‎
  2. (by extension) Stock; cattle.
Derived terms

References

Etymology 2

From Dutch erf ‎(“patrimony, ground”), related to English erf above.

Noun

erf ‎(plural erfs or erven)

  1. (US regional, Cape Colony, New York) A small inherited house-and-garden lot in a village or settlement.

Etymology 3

Abbreviation.

Noun

erf

  1. (mathematics) error function

Dutch

Pronunciation

Noun

erf n ‎(plural erven, diminutive erfje n)

  1. yard

Verb

erf

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

Etymology

From Middle English erfe, erve, from Old English yrfe, ierfe ‎(“heritage, bequest, inheritance, property, inherited property, property that passes to an heir, cattle, livestock”), from Proto-Germanic *arbiją ‎(“heritage”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- ‎(“to change ownership”) (from which also *h₃órbʰos ‎(“orphan”)). Cognate with Dutch erf ‎(“inheritance, patrimony, ground, courtyard”), German Erbe ‎(“heritage, legacy, inheritance”), Danish arv ‎(“heritage, inheritance”), Swedish arv ‎(“heritage, inheritance”), Gothic 𐌰𐍂𐌱𐌹 ‎(arbi, “inheritance”), Latin orbus ‎(“orphan”), Ancient Greek ὀρφανός ‎(orphanós, “orphan”), Old English ierfa ‎(“heir”). Related to orf.

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