daft
/dɑːft/ · adj
Meaning
- Foolish, silly, stupid.
- Crazy, insane, mad.
- Gentle, meek, mild.
Etymology / origin
From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”). Related to Old English dafnian, dafenian (“to be fitting, appropriate, or becoming”), Russian до́брый (dóbryj, “good”). Doublet of deft. Compare silly which originally meant “blessed; good, innocent; pitiful; weak”, but now means “laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance; mentally simple, foolish”. Unrelated to, though perhaps influenced by, daff (“fool (n.); to be foolish (v.)”) (past form daffed).
- до́брый(ru)→
- dafnian(Old English)→
- *daftī(gmw-pro)→
- dæfte(Old English)→
- dafte(Middle English)→
- daft (English)
- Relations: inh, inh, inh, cog, cog
Related words
Descendant words
- faber(Latin) (cog)
- *faβros(Proto-Italic) (cog)
- добрый(Russian) (cog)
Sources
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