gerefa

English

Noun

gerefa (plural gerefas)

  1. (historical) A reeve or official with local jurisdiction under the king; the chief magistrate of a district.

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Allegedly from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō, but this is unlikely on phonological grounds, since the West Saxon form has /eː/ and the Northumbrian and Mercian forms have /øː/. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a connection to the second elements of seċġrōf and stæfrōf. By surface analysis, ġe- +‎ rēfa.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /jeˈreː.fɑ/, [jeˈreː.vɑ]
  • Rhymes: -eː.fɑ

Noun

ġerēfa m

  1. a reeve or official with local jurisdiction under the king; the chief magistrate of a district
    • c. 1122–1124 (Textus Roffensis) [c. 694 CE], “The Laws of Ine”, in F[rederick] L[evi] Attenborough, M.A., ed. and transl., The Laws of the Earliest English Kings, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1922, page 56:
      Ġif ġesīþcund mon fare, þonne mōt hē habban his ġerēfan mid him ⁊ his smiþ ⁊ his ċildfestran.
      If a noble man should move, then he may keep his reeve and his smith and his children's nurse with him.
    • c. 989–992 CE, Ælfric of Eynsham, edited and translated by Benjamin Thorpe, F.S.A., The Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church, volume II, London: Richard and John E. Taylor, published 1846, page 512:
      Sumes ġerēfan dohtor hē āhredde fram fefore þurh his ǣrendġewrit, þe hēo ādliġ underfeng.
      He freed a certain reeve's daughter from a fever with his written letter, which she received while sick.

Declension

Weak:

singular plural
nominative ġerēfa ġerēfan
accusative ġerēfan ġerēfan
genitive ġerēfan ġerēfena
dative ġerēfan ġerēfum

Derived terms

Descendants

  • Middle English: reve (via rēfa)
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