lofe

See also: lofé

English

Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English lofe, lof (“praise, price”), from Old English lof (“praise, glory, repute, song of praise, hymn”), from Proto-West Germanic *lob, from Proto-Germanic *lubą (“praise, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, like”) (and thence a distant cognate of English love). Cognate with Scots lofe (“an offer”), North Frisian lof (“praise”), Dutch lof (“praise, glory, commendation”), German Lob (“praise, commendation, tribute”), Icelandic lof (“praise”). For semantic development, perhaps compare etymology of praise and its senses.

Alternative forms

• loff, loave

Noun

lofe (plural lofes)

1. (West Midlands and Northern England) An offer; choice; an opportunity; chance.
   • 1869, Alexander Craig Gibson, The Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent‎, page 212:

     "Yance I hed t' lofe an' I'd luck to say no, an' I niver hed t' lofe ageàn."—Said by an elderly spinster.

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle English loven (“to praise, set a price on”), from Old English lofian (“to praise, exalt, appraise, value, set a price on”), from Proto-West Germanic *lobōn, from Proto-Germanic *lubōną (“to praise, vow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, like”).

Cognate with Scots loave (“to offer at a price”), North Frisian lowe (“to vow, swear”), Dutch loven (“to praise, bless, commend”), German loben (“to praise, laud, commend”), Icelandic lofa (“to promise, praise, allow”).

Alternative forms

• loff, loave, love

Verb

lofe (third-person singular simple present lofes, present participle lofing, simple past and past participle lofed)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal or obsolete) To praise; commend.
2. (transitive, West Midlands and Northern England) To offer; offer at a price; expose for sale.
   • 1899, William Dickinson, Edward William Prevost, Simon Dickson Brown, A Glossary of the Words and Phrases Pertaining to the Dialect of Cumberland‎, page 202:

     Ah'd lofed him it an' he wadn't tak 't.

Related terms

• lovely (“praiseworthy”)

References

• Wright, Joseph (1902), The English Dialect Dictionary‎, volume 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 640

Anagrams

• floe

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: lofent, lofes

Verb

lofe

1. inflection of lofer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

lofe

1. alternative spelling of lof
   • c. 1175, “Dominica in Quadragessima”, in Algernon Ikey Belfour, editor, Twelfth Century Homilies in MS Bodley 343‎, published 1909, page 48, lines 12–14:

     Æt þam ytemestan, broðor mine, hér æfter fyliȝæð þeo mongung be þare ælmessæn lofe.

     In conclusion, my brethren, after this comes an exhortation in praise of charity.

Etymology 2

Noun

lofe

1. alternative form of love (“love”)

Etymology 3

Verb

lofe

1. alternative form of loven (“to love”)

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlo.fe/, [ˈlo.ve]
• IPA^(key): /ˈloː.fe/, [ˈloː.ve]

Noun

lofe

1. dative singular of lof

Noun

lōfe

1. dative singular of lōf