loof

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -uːf

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English love, lufe, lofe, luf (“palm of the hand”), from Old Norse lōfi, from Proto-Germanic *lōfô (“palm of the hand; paw; oar blade, paddle”).

Noun

loof (plural loofs)

1. (anatomy, now chiefly dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) The palm of the hand.
2. (anatomy, now chiefly dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) The hand, especially, the hand outspread and upturned.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English lof (“a contrivance for altering a ship's course, paddle, oar”), from Middle Dutch loef (“an oar or paddle used in steering”), ultimately of the same origin as Etymology 1. Compare luff.

Noun

loof (plural loofs)

1. (nautical, obsolete) A contrivance (apparently a paddle or an oar) used for altering the course of a ship.
2. (nautical) The after part of the bow of a ship where the sides begin to curve.

Etymology 3

From Egyptian Arabic لُوف (lūf).

Noun

loof (uncountable)

1. The spongy fibers of the fruit of a cucurbitaceous plant (Luffa aegyptiaca).

Related terms

• loofah

Anagrams

• Olof, floo, fool

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /loːf/
• Hyphenation: loof
• Rhymes: -oːf

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch lôof, from Old Dutch *lōf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą.

Noun

loof n (uncountable)

1. foliage

Derived terms

• dakloof
• dubbelloof
• groenlof
• huisloof
• loofboom
• loofbos
• loofhut
• witlof

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

loof

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

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *lōf, from Proto-West Germanic *laub, from Proto-Germanic *laubą.

Noun

lôof n

1. leaf
2. foliage, leaves

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: loof
• Limburgish: louf

Further reading

• “loof”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “loof (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Noun

loof

1. Alternative form of lof (“loaf”)