gaffer

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English gaffe (“a hook”) + -er. The natural lighting on early film sets was adjusted by opening and closing flaps in the tent cloths, called gaff cloths or gaff flaps.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -æfə(r)

Noun

gaffer (plural gaffers)

1. (film) A chief lighting technician for a motion-picture or television production.
2. A glassblower.

   Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble, or parison, with the aid of a blowpipe, or blow tube. A person who blows glass is called a glassblower, glassmith, or gaffer. (Wikipedia, 2012 November)

Related terms

• gaffer tape

Translations

chief lighting technician

• Dutch: gaffer (nl)
• Finnish: valaistusmestari (fi)

• French: éclairagiste (fr) m and f
• Russian: главный осветитель (ru) (glávnyj osvetítelʼ) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Danish: lysmand
• Bulgarian: осветител m

Etymology 2

Likely a contraction of godfather, but with the vowels influenced by grandfather. Compare French compère, German gevatter.

Noun

gaffer (plural gaffers)

1. (colloquial) An old man.
2. (UK) A foreman.
3. An "Old Gaffer" is a sailor.
4. In Maritime regions "the Little Gaffer" is the baby in the house. (the boss!)

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:old man

Related terms

• gammer

Translations

old man

• Bulgarian: старец (bg) (starec) m
• Czech: strejc (cs) m
• Danish: gammel mand (da)

• Finnish: ukko (fi)
• Russian: старик (ru) (starík) m

foreman

• Bulgarian: надзирател (bg) (nadziratel) m
• Danish: formand (da)
• Finnish: pomo (fi)

• French: contre-maître (fr) m
• Russian: десятник (ru) (desjátnik) m, бригадир (ru) (brigadír) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: дядо n

References

• “gaffer” in OED Online, Oxford University Press, 1989.

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French

Etymology

gaffe +‎ -er

Verb

gaffer

1. to make a gaffe; to mess up; botch up
2. to gaffer tape

Conjugation

   Conjugation of gaffer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		gaffer			avoir gaffé
gerund		en gaffant			en ayant gaffé
present participle		gaffant
past participle		gaffé
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il	nous	vous	ils
simple tenses	present	gaffe	gaffes	gaffe	gaffons	gaffez	gaffent
	imperfect	gaffais	gaffais	gaffait	gaffions	gaffiez	gaffaient
	past historic1	gaffai	gaffas	gaffa	gaffâmes	gaffâtes	gaffèrent
	future	gafferai	gafferas	gaffera	gafferons	gafferez	gafferont
	conditional	gafferais	gafferais	gafferait	gafferions	gafferiez	gafferaient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior1	Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il	que nous	que vous	qu’ils
simple tenses	present	gaffe	gaffes	gaffe	gaffions	gaffiez	gaffent
	imperfect1	gaffasse	gaffasses	gaffât	gaffassions	gaffassiez	gaffassent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect1	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
		—	gaffe	—	gaffons	gaffez	—
1literary tenses

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Jèrriais

Verb

gaffer

1. to grasp