schef

Middle English

Alternative forms

• chef, schefe, scheff, szefe, shef, sheff
• ssef (Kent); schaf, schaffe, shafe (Northern); schaeff, scheyf, schof (West Midland)
• scheffe, schofe, schoof (Promptorium Parvulorum)

Etymology

From Old English sċēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *skaub, from Proto-Germanic *skaubaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃɛ̝ːf/

  Rhymes: -ɛːf

• IPA^(key): /ʃaːf/ (Northern)
• IPA^(key): /ʃɔ̝ːf/ (East Anglia, West Midland)

Noun

schef (plural scheves or schefes)

1. A bundle or bunch (of plants or sticks):
   1. A sheaf (a grain bundle)
      • c. 1378-9, [William Langland], “Paſſus quıntus de vıſıone vt supͣ”, in [Piers Plowman, A Treatise on Sin] (W, B-text), London, published c. 1400, →OCLC, folio 37, verso; republished as Thorlac Turville-Petre, Hoyt N. Duggan, editors, Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.15.17 (The Piers Plowman Electronic Archive; 2), SEENET, 2014, →ISBN:

        To kepe kyen in þe feld. þe coꝛn fro þe beeſtes / Dıken oꝛ deluen. or dyngen vp on sheues / Oꝛ helpe make moꝛter. oꝛ bere Muk a feld

        […] to keep cows in the field, grain from the animals, to ditch, dig, or beat on sheaves, / help make mortar, or deliver manure to the field.

   2. A sheaf as a tax in kind.
   3. A quiver or a quiverful of arrows.
2. A unit of measure for glass or steel.

Descendants

• English: sheaf
• Middle Scots: scheif, scheef
  • Scots: sheaf, shafe, shaif

References

• “shēf, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 4 May 2018.

Middle High German

Etymology

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (before 13^th CE) /ˈʃɛf/

Noun

schëf n

1. alternative form of schif

Declension

Declension of schëf (strong neuter with null plural)

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	daȥ	schëf	diu	schëf
genitive	eines	dës	schëffes	dër	schëffe
dative	eime	dëm	schëffe	dën	schëffen
accusative	ein	daȥ	schëf	diu	schëf