erf

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Translingual

Symbol

erf

  1. (mathematics) error function.

English

Pronunciation

  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f

Etymology 1

From Middle English erve, erfe, from Old English yrfe, ierfe (“heritage, bequest, inheritance, property, inherited property, property that passes to an heir, cattle, livestock”), from Proto-West Germanic *arbī, from Proto-Germanic *arbiją (“heritage”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- (“to change ownership”) (whence 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 and odal and athel.

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

Borrowed from obsolete Dutch erf (“hereditament, plot of land”). Doublet of erf above.

Noun

erf (plural erfs or erven)

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

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch erve, from Old Dutch ervi, from Proto-West Germanic *arbī, from Proto-Germanic *arbiją.

Noun

erf n (plural erven, diminutive erfje n)

  1. yard (open area adjoining and belonging to a house)
  2. (figurative) heritage, patrimony
    Synonym: erfdeel
  3. (obsolete, law) hereditament, especially a plot of land
    Antonym: kateel
  4. (obsolete) inheritance
    Synonyms: erfenis, nalatenschap
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Afrikaans: erf
  • → English: erf
  • Negerhollands: erfe
  • Petjo: erf

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

erf

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

Middle English

Noun

erf

  1. Alternative form of erve
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