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Origin and history of waft

waft(v.)

late 15c., waften, transitive, "cause to move gently through a buoyant medium," as floating on a breeze; probably from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German, ultimately from wachten "to guard" (perhaps via notion of a ship that guards another as it sails), related to waken "rouse from sleep" (from PIE root *weg- "to be strong, be lively").

The intransitive sense of "pass through a buoyant medium" is from 1560s. The word might have been influenced by northern dialect waff "cause to move to and fro" (1510s), a secondary variant of wave. via the past-participle waved. A verb wafter "to flutter, flap, wave" is attested in late 14c.

As a noun, c. 1600 as "a taste, a flavor;" by 1640s as "that which is blown, a breath or puff, current of air." Related: Wafted; wafting.

also from late 15c.

Entries linking to waft

wave(v.)

"move back and forth or up and down," Middle English waven, from Old English wafian "to undulate, fluctuate" (related to wæfre "wavering, restless, unstable"), from Proto-Germanic *wab- (source also of Old Norse vafra "to hover about," Middle High German waben "to wave, undulate"). This is possibly from PIE root *(h)uebh- "to move to and fro; to weave" (see weave (v.)).

Of a flag, banner, etc., "to shake and stream in the air," late 14c. By 1530 as "have an undulating form or direction." The transitive sense of "move (something) to and fro, brandish" is from mid-15c.; the meaning "make a sign by a wave of the hand, give a signaling motion with the hand to and fro" is from 1510s, originally nautical.

As "motion someone with a wave" (with in, out, over, etc.) is by 1837; wave-off (n.) as a signal to an aircraft not to land is by 1951. Related: Waved; waver ("one who or that which waves," c. 1600); waving.

I was much further out than you thought

And not waving but drowning.

[Stevie Smith]

waffle(v.)

1690s, "to yelp, bark," frequentative (with -el (3)) of provincial waff "to yelp, to bark like a puppy" (1610); possibly of imitative origin. The figurative sense of "talk foolishly" (c. 1700) led to that of "vacillate, equivocate, fluctuate" (1803), originally a Scottish and northern English provincial usage.

Also compare waif. Late 17c. Scottish also had waff "act of waving," variant of waft, which might have influenced the sense. Related: Waffled; waffler (by 1803 in the sense of "unreliable person"); waffling.

*weg-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to be strong, be lively."

It might form all or part of: awake; bewitch; bivouac; invigilate; reveille; surveillance; vedette; vegetable; velocity; vigil; vigilant; vigilante; vigor; waft; wait; wake (v.) "emerge or arise from sleep;" waken; watch; Wicca; wicked; witch.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit vajah "force, strength," vajayati "drives on;" Latin vigil "watchful, awake," vigere "be lively, thrive," velox "fast, lively," vegere "to enliven," vigor "liveliness, activity;" Old English wacan "to become awake," German wachen "to be awake," Gothic wakan "to watch."