werf, noun
/vɛrf/
- Forms:
- Show more Also verft, werft, wherf.
- Origin:
- DutchShow more Older and dialectal Dutch werf, werft yard, raised ground on which a house is built.
1. A farm homestead and its immediate environs; a farmyard. Also attributive, and figurative.
1818 C.I. Latrobe Jrnl of Visit 191We..took leave, pitched the tent on the werft, and kindled a fire.
2. In the context of traditional African societies: a. kraal noun sense 2 a. b. The temporary settlement of a nomadic group.
3. By metonymy: the inhabitants of a werf.
1977 N. Okes in Quarry ’77 138Early on Saturday morning the horses and their riders departed to Rawsonville and at once the werf began to stir.
A farm homestead and its immediate environs; a farmyard. Also attributive, and figurative.
The temporary settlement of a nomadic group.
the inhabitants of a werf.
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