erf

erf

1. (mathematics) error function.

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f

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 *arbī, from Proto-Germanic *arbiją (“heritage”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃erbʰ- (“to change ownership”) (whence also *h₃órbʰos (“orphan”)).

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

erf (plural erfs)

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

   Son, you will have this farm to erf.

2. (by extension) Stock; cattle.

• erfkin

• The Dictionary of the Scots Language

Borrowed from obsolete Dutch erf (“hereditament, plot of land”). Doublet of erf above.

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.

• ervenholder

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

• IPA^(key): /ɛrf/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: erf
• Rhymes: -ɛrf

From Middle Dutch erve, from Old Dutch ervi, from Proto-West Germanic *arbī, from Proto-Germanic *arbiją.

erf n (plural erven, diminutive erfje n)

1. yard (open area adjoining and belonging to a house)
2. (figurative) heritage, patrimony

   Synonym: erfdeel

3. (obsolete, law) hereditament, especially a plot of land

   Antonym: kateel

4. (obsolete) inheritance

   Synonyms: erfenis, nalatenschap

• Afrikaans: erf
• → English: erf
• Negerhollands: erfe
• Petjo: erf

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

erf

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

erf

1. Alternative form of erve