Word.ws English Dictionary

erf

UK/ɜːf//ɝf/

erf noun: inheritance; patrimony.

Noun (1)

erf (plural erfs)

  1. (Northern England, Scotland, rare) Inheritance; patrimony.
    • Son, you will have this farm to erf.
  2. (broadly) Stock; cattle.

Noun (2)

erf (plural erfs or erven)

  1. (New-York, South Africa, US, regional, Cape Colony) A small inherited house-and-garden lot in a village or settlement.

Forms of erf

pluralerfs
pluralerven

Origin of erf

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. Compare odal and athel.

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

Words formed from erf

Words that rhyme with erf

3 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about erf

What does erf mean?
Erf means inheritance; patrimony.
What part of speech is erf?
Erf is a noun.
How do you pronounce erf?
Erf is pronounced /ɜːf/ (UK).
What is the plural of erf?
The plural of erf is erfs.

Words near erf in the dictionary

  1. erewhiles
  2. Erewhonian
  3. Erewhonians
  4. ereyesterday
  5. ereynetal
  6. erf
  7. Erfanian
  8. Erfanians
  9. erfc
  10. erfkin
  11. erfkins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: erf (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-erf.oga.

Cite this entry: “erf.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/erf. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.