Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of toft

toft(n.)

"homestead, plot of land on which a house stands," especially if slightly elevated and exposed; late Old English, from Old Norse topt "homestead," from Proto-Germanic *tumfto (from PIE root *dem- "house, household"). Chiefly preserved in place-names. Often understood since Middle English to include an enclosed garden and sometimes including the buildings on the ground, hence legal use, where it often was paired with croft. Related: Toftstead.

Entries linking to toft

"small piece of enclosed ground for agricultural purposes, a very small farm," especially of those on the western coast and isles of Scotland. Old English croft "enclosed field, small field," of unknown etymology. Germanic and Celtic sources have been proposed.

Crofter "tenant who holds a small field, one who occupies a croft," especially "small farmer on the western coast and islands of Scotland," is by 1762 (from late 13c. as a surname), originally Scottish.

1550s, "little tuft," from Old French touffel, diminutive of touffe (see tuft) with diminutive suffix -et for French -el. Obsolete except in dialect and the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" (1843), where it has been felt to mean "hassock, footstool." Perhaps there is sense influence from toft (n.) in a specific sense of "green knoll," originally one suitable for a homestead.

LITTLE Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

And made of her knees such display

That the old fashioned spider,

Embarrassed beside her,

Was actually frightened away!

[Life magazine, Oct. 1, 1927]

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "house, household." It represents the usual Indo-European word for "house" (Italian, Spanish casa are from Latin casa "cottage, hut;" Germanic *hus is of obscure origin).

It might form all or part of: Anno Domini; belladonna; condominium; dame; damsel; dan "title of address to members of religious orders;" danger; dangerous; demesne; despot; Dom Perignon; domain; dome; domestic; domesticate; domicile; dominate; domination; dominion; domino; don (n.) "Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese title of respect;" Donna; dungeon; ma'am; madam; madame; mademoiselle; madonna; major-domo; predominant; predominate; timber; toft.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit damah "house;" Avestan demana- "house;" Greek domos "house," despotēs "master, lord;" Latin domus "house," dominus "master of a household;" Armenian tanu-ter "house-lord;" Old Church Slavonic domu, Russian dom "house;" Lithuanian dimstis "enclosed court, property;" Old Norse topt "homestead."

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trends of toft

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

late 14c., solucioun, "explanation, answer; interpretation of a dream; the dissolving of a substance in a liquid, transformation of matter to a liquid state," from Old French solucion "division, dissolving; explanation; payment" and directly from Latin solutionem (nominative solu

c. 1500, "weight, dignity, seriousness, solemnity of deportment or character, importance," from Old French gravité "seriousness, thoughtfulness" (13c.) and directly from Latin gravitatem (nominative gravitas) "weight, heaviness, pressure," from gravis "heavy" (from PIE root *gwer

1670s, from French hygiène, ultimately from Greek hygieine techne "the healthful art," from hygies "healthy, sound, hearty," literally "living well" (personified as the goddess Hygieia), from PIE *eyu-gwie-es- "having a vigorous life," from root *aiw-, *ayu- "vital force, life, l

c. 1200, savacioun, saluatiun, sauvacioun, etc., originally in the Christian sense, "the saving of the soul, deliverance from the power of sin and admission to eternal bliss," from Old French salvaciun and directly from Late Latin salvationem (nominative salvatio, a Church Latin

mid-14c., "swelling caused by gathering of 'wind' in the body; flatulence," also, figuratively, "outbursts of pride," from Latin inflationem (nominative inflatio) "a puffing up, a blowing into; flatulence," noun of action from past-participle stem of inflare "blow into, puff up,"

occasionally psychodelic, "producing expanded consciousness through heightened awareness and feeling," 1956, of drugs, suggested by British-born Canadian psychiatrist Humphry Osmond in a letter to Aldous Huxley and used by Osmond in a scientific paper published the next year; fro

1590s, "to run or bend in a certain direction" (of rivers, coasts, etc.), from Middle English trenden "to roll about, turn, revolve," from Old English trendan "turn round, revolve, roll," from Proto-Germanic *trandijan (source also of Old English trinde "round lump, ball," Old Fr

1530s, "household management," from Latin oeconomia (source of French économie, Spanish economia, German Ökonomie, etc.), from Greek oikonomia "household management, thrift," from oikonomos "manager, steward," from oikos "house, abode, dwelling" (cognate with Latin vicus "distric

late 14c., necessarie, "needed, required; essential, indispensable; such as must be, that cannot be otherwise; not voluntary or governed by chance or free will," from Old French necessaire "necessary, urgent, compelling" (13c.), and directly from Latin necessarius "unavoidable, i

"nerdy intellectual," by 1986, U.S. teenager slang, from the character Poindexter, introduced 1959 in the made-for-TV cartoon version of "Felix the Cat." The name originally was a surname, said to be Norman. There is a rare name Poindexter, appearing in French as Poingdestre, "r

Share toft

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trending

Dictionary entries near toft

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z