nef

See also: nèf and nêf

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛf/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛf

Etymology 1

A 1500s nef from Germany

Borrowed from French nef. Doublet of nave and nau.

Noun

nef (plural nefs)

1. An extravagant table ornament and container used in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, made in the shape of a ship.

See also

• cadenas
• navicula

Etymology 2

Short for numerically effective; introduced by Miles Reid.

Adjective

nef (not comparable)

1. (algebraic geometry) Of a line bundle on a complete algebraic variety over a field: such that the degree of its restriction to every algebraic curve in the variety is non-negative.
   • 1983, Miles Reid, “Minimal Models of Canonical 3-Folds”, in Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematics, volume 1, page 131:

     […] this condition is the numerical consequence of the condition that for some $m>0$, the linear system $|mD|$ is effective and free; thus nef = "numerically (effective and free)".

Derived terms

• nefness

Anagrams

• ENF, fen

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French nef, from Old French nef, from Latin nāvem, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us. Displaced by bateau and navire in the sense of "boat".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛf/

• Audio (Switzerland):

  (file)

Noun

nef f (plural nefs)

1. (obsolete or poetic) vessel, ship
2. (architecture) nave

Derived terms

• aéronef
• astronef
• porte-aéronefs

Related terms

• nacelle
• naval
• navire

Descendants

• → Breton: nev
• → English: nef

See also

• barque
• vaisseau

Further reading

• “nef”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse nef, from Proto-Germanic *nabją. Cognate with English neb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛːv/
• Rhymes: -ɛːv

Noun

nef n (genitive singular nefs, nominative plural nef)

1. nose
2. beak

Declension

Declension of nef (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	nef	nefið	nef	nefin
accusative	nef	nefið	nef	nefin
dative	nefi	nefinu	nefjum	nefjunum
genitive	nefs	nefsins	nefja	nefjanna

Derived terms

• taka í nefið (“to take snuff”)
• fitja upp á nefið (“to turn up one's nose”)
• með nefið ofan í hvers manns koppi (“nosy”)
• stökkva upp á nef sér (“to flare up, to get angry”)
• neflaus
• hafa bein í nefinu

Mauritian Creole

Mauritian Creole cardinal numbers

<  8	9	10  >
Cardinal : nef     Ordinal : neviem

Etymology

From French neuf.

Numeral

nef

1. nine

Adjective

nef

1. new

Middle French

Alternative forms

• nau

Etymology

From Old French nef, from Latin nāvis, nāvem.

Noun

nef f (plural nefs or nefz)

1. boat; ship; watercraft

Descendants

• French: nef (obsolete or poetic)
  • → Breton: nev
  • → English: nef
• Norman: nef

Old Cornish

Etymology

from Proto-Brythonic *neβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *nemos, from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”).

Noun

nef

1. heaven, sky
   • c. 1200, Latin-Old Cornish Glossary in British Library MS Cotton Vespasian A XIV, folio 7 recto:

     Celum. nef.

     Sky. — sky.

Old French

Alternative forms

• naf, nau

Etymology

From Latin nāvis, nāvem.

Noun

nef oblique singular, f (oblique plural nés, nominative singular nef, nominative plural nés)

1. boat; ship; watercraft

Related terms

• nacele

Descendants

• Middle French: nef, nau (Parisian dialect)
  • French: nef (obsolete or poetic)
    • → Breton: nev
    • → English: nef
  • Norman: nef
• Poitevin-Saintongeais: nau

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *nabją.

Noun

nef n (genitive nefs, plural nef)

1. nose
2. beak

Declension

Declension of nef (strong ja-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	nef	nefit	nef	nefin
accusative	nef	nefit	nef	nefin
dative	nefi	nefinu	nefjum	nefjunum
genitive	nefs	nefsins	nefja	nefjanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: nef; nebbi
• Faroese: nev, nebb, nebbi
• Norn: nev
• Norwegian: nebb
• Old Swedish: næf
  • Swedish: näv (dialectal)
• Danish: næb

Volapük

Noun

nef (nominative plural nefs)

1. nephew
2. niece

Declension

Declension of nef

	singular	plural
nominative	nef	nefs
genitive	nefa	nefas
dative	nefe	nefes
accusative	nefi	nefis
vocative 1	o nef!	o nefs!
predicative 2	nefu	nefus

¹ status as a case is disputed
² in later, non-classical Volapük only

Welsh

Etymology

From Middle Welsh new, from Old Welsh nem, from Proto-Brythonic *neβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *nemos, from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”). Cognate with Breton neñv, Cornish nev and Irish neamh.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /neːv/
• Rhymes: -eːv

Noun

nef f (plural nefoedd, not mutable)

1. (frequently in the plural with singular meaning) heaven

   Synonym: nen

Related terms

• nwyfre (“firmament, the ether”)
• nyfel (“firmament, the ether”)
• nyfelwy (“firmament, the ether”)

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “nef”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies