English
loft
Loft comes from Middle English lofte ‘air, sky, upper region, loft’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *lufti.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*luftireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lyftas loft‘air’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lofte‘air, sky, upper region, loft’
- Englishearliest quotation 1542loft
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*luftireconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150lyftas loft‘air’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500lofte‘air, sky, upper region, loft’
- Englishearliest quotation 1542loft
Earliest quotation: 1542, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey: “A heart, where dread was never so imprest To…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- ‘to peel, break off, damage’
believe, love, leave, left, library, belief, leaf, lib, lodge, lobby, libel, libido, liber, libretto, lob, lief, 17 more
through Proto-West Germanic *luftu ‘roof’
through Old English lyft ‘air’
Today it means
noun Air, the air; the sky, the heavens.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *lufti / loft