wharf

English

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwarf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), Greek καρπός (“wrist”).

The fact that wharves often have warehouses next to them for storing offloaded goods has led to the popular etymology that ‘wharf’ is an acronym of 'warehouse at river front'; however this is incorrect.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʍɔː(ɹ)f/, SAMPA: /WO:(r))f/
• (in accents with the wine-whine merger) enPR: wô(r)f, IPA: /wɔː(r)f/, SAMPA: /wO:(r)f/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)f

Noun

wharf (plural wharves or wharfs)

1. A man-made landing place jutting out to sea or by a river; mole, pier, or quay

Synonyms

• jetty
• pier
• quay
• staithe, staith (Northern England)

Derived terms

• wharfage
• wharfie
• wharf rat
• wharfinger

Translations

man-made landing place jutting out to water

Arabic: رصيف (ar) (raSiif) m. Bulgarian: пристан (bg) (prístan) m., кей (bg) (kéj) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 碼頭 (cmn), 码头 (cmn) (mǎtóu) Danish: brygge (da) c. Dutch: werf (nl) m., kade (nl) f. Esperanto: varfo (eo) Finnish: laituri (fi) French: quai (fr) m., appontement (fr) m. German: Kai (de) m., Wharf (de) m. Greek: αποβάθρα (el) f.

Irish: cé (ga) f. Italian: molo (it) m., banchina (it) f., pontile (it) m. Japanese: 波止場 (ja) (はとば, hatoba), 埠頭 (ja) (ふとう, futō), 桟橋 (ja) (さんばし, sanbashi) Korean: 선창 (ko) (seonchang) (先唱 (ko)) Norwegian: brygge (no) c. Persian: بندرگاه Portuguese: cais (pt) m. Russian: пристань (ru) (prístan’) f., причал (ru) (pričál) m. Scottish Gaelic: laimrig f. Spanish: embarcadero (es) m. Vietnamese: bến tàu (vi)

See also

• dock

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French

Etymology

English wharf

Noun

wharf m. (plural wharfs)

1. wharf