different between ref vs erf

English

Etymology

Clipping of referee

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??f/
• Rhymes: -?f

Noun

ref (plural refs)

1. (informal) A referee.
2. (Philippines, informal) A refrigerator.
3. Abbreviation of reference.
4. Abbreviation of refectory.

Verb

ref (third-person singular simple present refs, present participle reffing, simple past and past participle reffed)

1. (informal, transitive, intransitive) To referee; to act as a referee in a sport or game.
   • 1982, Stephen King, Survivor Type

     On the block when we were growing up we called him Ronnie the Enforcer because he umped all the stickball games and reffed the hockey.

Anagrams

• FER, RFE, erf, f***er, fer

Icelandic

Noun

ref

1. indefinite accusative singular of refur
2. indefinite dative singular of refur

Middle English

Noun

ref

1. Alternative form of reif

Swedish

Noun

ref

1. Obsolete spelling of räv

See also

• referee

Anagrams

• fre

Translingual

Symbol

erf

1. (mathematics) The symbol for the error function.

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??(?)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 *arb?, from Proto-Germanic *arbij? (“heritage”), from Proto-Indo-European *h?erb?- (“to change ownership”) (whence also *h?órb?os (“orphan”)).

Cognate with Dutch erf (“inheritance, patrimony, ground, courtyard”), German Erbe (“heritage, legacy, inheritance”), Danish arv (“heritage, inheritance”), Swedish arv (“heritage, inheritance”), Gothic ???????????????? (arbi, “inheritance”), Latin orbus (“orphan”), Ancient Greek ??????? (orphanós, “orphan”), Old English ierfa (“heir”). Related to orf and odal and athel.

Noun

erf (plural erfs)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, rare) Inheritance; patrimony.

2. (by extension) Stock; cattle.

Derived terms

• erfkin

References

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

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.

Anagrams

• FER, REF, RFE, Ref, Ref., f***er, fer, ref

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rf/
• Hyphenation: erf
• Rhymes: -?rf

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch erve, from Old Dutch ervi, from Proto-West Germanic *arb?, from Proto-Germanic *arbij?.

Noun

erf n (plural erven, diminutive erfje n)

1. yard (open area adjoining and belonging to a house)
2. (figuratively) heritage, patrimony
3. (obsolete, law) hereditament, especially a plot of land

   Antonym: kateel

4. (obsolete) inheritance

   Synonyms: erfenis, erfdeel

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: erf
• ? English: erf

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

erf

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

Middle English

Noun

erf

1. Alternative form of erve