different between loft vs lofty

English

Etymology

From Middle English lofte (“air, sky, upper region, loft”), from Old English loft, (doublet of native Old English lyft) of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lopt (“upper chamber, attic, region of sky, air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“air, sky”). Akin to Scots lift (“air; sky; firmament”), Dutch lucht (“air”), German Luft (“air”), Old English lyft (“air”). More at lift, aloft.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /l?ft/, enPR: lôft
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /l?ft/, enPR: l?ft
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /l?ft/, enPR: l?ft
• Rhymes: -?ft

Noun

loft (plural lofts)

1. (obsolete, except in derivatives) air, the air; the sky, the heavens.
2. An attic or similar space (often used for storage) in the roof of a house or other building.
3. (textiles) The thickness of a soft object when not under pressure.
4. A gallery or raised apartment in a church, hall, etc.

   an organ loft

5. (golf) The pitch or slope of the face of a golf club (tending to drive the ball upward).
6. (obsolete) A floor or room placed above another.

   • Eutychus […] fell down from the third loft.

Translations

Verb

loft (third-person singular simple present lofts, present participle lofting, simple past and past participle lofted)

1. (transitive) To propel high into the air.
2. (intransitive) To fly or travel through the air, as though propelled
   • 2004, Wallace Akin, The Forgotten Storm:

     When she saw houses lofting past her window, she ran to the child, who slept on a feather bed and she gathered the coverlet around them both.

3. (bowling) To throw the ball erroneously through the air instead of releasing it on the lane's surface.
4. (transitive) To furnish with a loft space.
   • 1853, Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command

     Two sisters, one under fifteen years of age, have lofted the house, so as to have a room for themselves.

Translations

Adjective

loft (comparative more loft, superlative most loft)

1. (obsolete, rare) lofty; proud; haughty
   • 1542', Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Epitath on Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder

     A heart, where dread was never so imprest
     To hide the thought that might the truth advance;
     In neither fortune loft, nor yet represt

Related terms

Danish

Etymology

From Old Norse lopt (“attic, air”). Cognate to luft (“air”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [?l?fd]

Noun

loft n (singular definite loftet, plural indefinite lofter)

1. attic, room immediately below the roof of a building
2. ceiling, structure separating stories in a building
3. (by extension) an upper limit to something

Declension

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse lopt

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?ft/
• Rhymes: -?ft

Noun

loft n (genitive singular lofts, nominative plural loft)

1. air
2. sky
3. loft, attic
4. ceiling

Declension

Synonyms

• andrúmsloft
• himinn
• háaloft

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse lopt

Noun

loft n (definite singular loftet, indefinite plural loft, definite plural lofta or loftene)

1. a loft or attic
2. the ceiling of a room
3. a two-storey medieval building

References

• “loft” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “loft” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse lopt

Noun

loft n (definite singular loftet, indefinite plural loft, definite plural lofta)

1. a loft or attic
2. a two-storey medieval building

References

• “loft” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Polish

Etymology

From English loft, from Middle English lofte, from Old English loft, from North Germanic, from Old Norse lopt, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /l?ft/

Noun

loft m inan

1. loft apartment

Declension

Further reading

• loft in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• loft in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Noun

loft m (plural lofts)

1. loft

West Frisian

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

loft c (plural loften)

1. sky
2. group of clouds

Further reading

• “loft”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011

English

Etymology

From Middle English lofty, lofti, lofte (“of high rank; noble; ornate”), equivalent to loft +? -y; see loft (“sky, firmament; upper room”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: l?ft?i, IPA^(key): /?l?fti/
• (General American) enPR: lôft?i, IPA^(key): /?l??fti/
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) enPR: l?ft?i, IPA^(key): /?l?fti/
• Rhymes: -?fti, -??fti

Adjective

lofty (comparative loftier, superlative loftiest)

1. high, tall, having great height or stature
   • 1885, Richard F. Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 551:

     When the night was half spent, I rose and walked on, till the day broke in all its beauty and the sun rose over the heads of the lofty hills and athwart the low gravelly plains.

2. idealistic, implying over-optimism

   a lofty goal

   • 2013, Delme Parfitt in Wales Online, Cardiff City 1 - 0 Swansea City: Steven Caulker heads Bluebirds to South Wales derby win (3 November 2013)

     A goal from Steven Caulker, just after the hour mark, was enough to hand victory to Malky Mackay's men, with Swansea falling some way short of the lofty standards they have set previously at this level.

3. extremely proud; arrogant; haughty
   • F. Harrison

     that lofty pity with which prosperous folk are apt to remember their grandfathers

Synonyms

• (having great height or stature): noble, honorable

Antonyms

• (having great height or stature): mean, ignoble
• (idealistic): familiar, vulgar

Related terms

• loft
• aloft

Translations