hof

See also: Hof, Hoff, and hóf

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from German Hof.

Noun

hof (plural hofs)

1. Enclosure, court, dwelling, building, house.
   • 1993 May, William, Trevor, Jake's Castle, in Harper's Magazine:

     Ulrike lived in a farm hof, and all around me were the dark blank fields punctuated by a few disparate lights.

   • 2009, Chloe Aridjis, Book of Clouds (New York: Black Cat, 1st edition):

     Like many old houses, this one had a front section, where I lived, and at the back an interior courtyard, the Hof, enclosed on all three sides by more apartments.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Old Norse hóf, reinforced in modern (post-1990, chiefly neopagan) use by Icelandic hof (“shrine, temple”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: hōf, IPA^(key): /hoʊf/

Noun

hof (plural hofs)

1. (Neopaganism) temple, sanctuary, hall.
   • 1996, Varg Vikernes, cited after Gardell, Gods of the Blood, 2003, p. 307.

     For each ten churches burned to ashes, one heathen hof is avenged.

   • 2005, Michael Strmiska, Modern Paganism In World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives, p. 170.

     Asatruarfelagid lacks a central religious temple, or hof in Icelandic. Constructing a hof has been high on the members' wish list for many years.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Korean 호프 (hopeu), in turn from German Hofbräuhaus. In English, the spelling has been re-aligned with the Korean term's etymon.

Noun

hof (plural hofs)

1. A Korean-style bar or pub.

Anagrams

• FOH, foh

---

Cimbrian

Noun

hof m

1. garden

References

• Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013) Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien

---

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch hof, from Old Dutch *hof, from Proto-Germanic *hufą.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔf

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

hof n (plural hoven, diminutive hofje n)

1. (royal) court
2. court of law; short form of gerechtshof
3. court, yard
4. (East and West Flanders) garden

Derived terms

• hoffelijk
• hofleverancier
• hoveling
• kerkhof
• Keukenhof

Descendants

• → Papiamentu: hòfi

---

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse hof, from Proto-Germanic *hufą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔːv/
• Rhymes: -ɔːv

Noun

hof n (genitive singular hofs, nominative plural hof)

1. shrine, typically in a home on farm; by extension a temple

Declension

declension of hof

n-s	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	hof	hofið	hof	hofin
accusative	hof	hofið	hof	hofin
dative	hofi	hofinu	hofum	hofunum
genitive	hofs	hofsins	hofa	hofanna

---

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch *hof, from Proto-Germanic *hufą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɔf/

Noun

hof n or m

1. court, enclosed space
2. garden
3. farmstead
4. castle (court of the nobility)

Inflection

Declension of hof (strong)

	Singular	Plural
nominative	hof	hove
accusative	hof	hove
genitive	hoves	hove
dative	hove	hoven

Derived terms

• hōvesch

Descendants

• Dutch: hof
• Limburgish: haof, hoof

Further reading

• “hof”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “hof (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page II

---

Old English

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *hufą.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xof/, [hof]

Noun

hof n (nominative plural hofu)

1. court, hall
2. house, building

Declension

Declension of hof (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	hof	hofu
accusative	hof	hofu
genitive	hofes	hofa
dative	hofe	hofum

See also

• ærn n
• hūs n

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *hōfaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xoːf/, [hoːf]

Noun

hōf m

1. a hoof

Declension

Declension of hof (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	hōf	hōfas
accusative	hōf	hōfas
genitive	hōfes	hōfa
dative	hōfe	hōfum

Descendants

• English: hoof

---

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hufą (“hill, house, temple”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhov/

Noun

hof n (genitive hofs, plural hof)

1. shrine, typically in a home of a farm
   • Vǫluspá, verse 7, lines 3-4, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 2:

     […] þeir er hörg ok hof / hátimbruðu, […]

     […] they who shrines and temples / high timbered, […]

2. a hall, court
   • Hymiskviða, verse 33, lines 3-4, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 48:

     […] út or óru / ölkjól hofi. […]

     […] forth from our house / the cauldron here. […]

3. a royal court

Usage notes

Old Norse makes the distinction between hof "a hall, a sanctuary with a roof" and hǫrgr "an altar, any cult site without a roof". The prevalent meaning of hof in Old Norse literature is "temple, sanctuary". Cleasby and Vigfússon (1874) note the generic meaning "a hall (as in German and Saxon)" in Hymiskviða 33 as a hapax legomenon. The meaning of "court" follows Middle High German and appears only from the 14th century and almost exclusively in compounds such as hof-ferð "pride, pomp", hof-garðr "lordly mansion", hof-fólk "courtiers".

Declension

  Declension of hof (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	hof	hofit	hof	hofin
accusative	hof	hofit	hof	hofin
dative	hofi	hofinu	hofum	hofunum
genitive	hofs	hofsins	hofa	hofanna

Derived terms

Terms derived from hof

• blóthof (“heathen temple”)
• hofferð (“pride, pomp”)
• hofferðugr (“proud”)
• hoffólk (“courtiers”)
• hoffrakt (“pomp”)
• hofgarðr (“lordly mansion”)
• hofgoði (“temple-priest”)
• hofgrið (“asylum in a sanctuary”)
• hofgyðja (“priestess”)
• hofhelgr (“temple-feast”)
• hoflist (“pomp”)
• hoflýðr (“courtiers”)
• hofmaðr (“courtier”)
• hofmóðugr (“haughty”)

• hofprestr (“temple-priest”)
• hofsdyrr (“temple-doors”)
• hofseiðr (“temple-oath”)
• hofsgoði (“temple-priest”)
• hofshelgi (“sanctity of a temple”)
• hofshurð (“temple-door”)
• hofshǫfðingi (“temple-lord”)
• hofsmold (“temple mold, holy mold”)
• hofstaðr (“sanctuary”)
• hofsteigr (“strip of temple-land”)
• hoftollr (“temple-toll, rate”)
• hoftyft (“urbanity”)
• hofvaerk (“great feat”)
• hofþénari (“court servant”)

Descendants

• Faroese: hov n
• Norwegian Bokmål: hoff n, hov n
• Norwegian Nynorsk: hoff n, hov n

• Icelandic: hof n
• Swedish: hov n, hof n (Old Swedish hof n)

References

• “hof”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• hof in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
• hof in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.

---

Old Saxon

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *hufą.

Noun

hof n

1. dwelling, hovel, house
2. court, hall

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *hōfaz.

Noun

hōf m

1. a hoof

---

Swedish

Noun

hof n

1. royal court; Obsolete spelling of hov.
2. hoof; Obsolete spelling of hov.

Declension

Declension of hof
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	hof	hofvet	hof	hofven
Genitive	hofs	hofvets	hofs	hofvens

Declension of hof 2
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	hof	hofven	hofvar	hofvarna
Genitive	hofs	hofvens	hofvars	hofvarnas