waft

English[edit]

Back-formation from wafter (armed convoy ship), alteration of Middle English waughter, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wachter (a guard), from wachten (to guard)
the current usage derives from the sense 'carried by water'. See waif

waft (third-person singular simple present wafts, present participle wafting, simple past and past participle wafted)

(ergative) to cause to float easily or gently through the air
- A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.
- 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses Chapter 13
  
  Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin…
- 1914, Hugh G. Evelyn-White’s translation of Hymn to Aphrodite from the Homeric Hymns.[1]
  
  There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.
(intransitive) To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
- Dryden
  
  And now the shouts waft near the citadel.

to float easily and gently on the air

waft (plural wafts)

A light breeze.
Something (a scent or odor), such as a perfume, that is carried through the air.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
  
  Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.
- 2010 September, "The SLM Calendar", St. Louis magazine, ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 170:
  
  Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found. […] "
(nautical) A flag, (also called a waif or wheft), used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal.