nerf

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɝf/
• IPA^(key): /nɜːf/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f

Etymology 1

Circa 1950s? (Please provide an etymology)

Verb

nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)

1. (motor racing, transitive) To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully.

   A racer will often nerf another as a psychological tactic.

Derived terms

• nerf bar
• nerf net

Etymology 2

From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns.

Verb

nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)

1. (transitive, slang, video games) To cripple or weaken an element of a video game during its development (such as a character, a weapon, a spell, etc.).

   Synonym: gimp

   The lightning spell was originally pretty powerful, but in the sequel they nerfed it so it became completely useless.

2. (transitive, slang) To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of.
   • 2019 May 17, Fred Lambert, Electrek‎^[1], retrieved 2019-05-19:

     Tesla nerfs Autopilot in Europe due to new regulations

Synonyms

• debuff, worsen, deteriorate, cripple, degenerate

Antonyms

• ameliorate, buff (game slang), improve, renew, renovate, revamp

Noun

nerf (plural nerfs)

1. (slang, video games) The weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc.

Anagrams

• Fern, fern, fren, fren'

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Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛrf/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nerf
• Rhymes: -ɛrf
• Rhymes: -ɛrf

Etymology 1

From earlier nerve, from Middle Dutch *narwe, either inherited from Old Dutch *narwa or borrowed from Middle Low German narwe, eventually from Proto-Germanic *narwō. For the change of -rwe → -rf, compare verf. Cognate with German Narbe (“scar”).

Noun

nerf f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)

1. grain of wood
2. (dated) a similar line in leather, paper, etc.

Derived terms

• houtnerf

Etymology 2

From Latin nervus. The botanic sense belongs historically to this word, but is semantically close to etymology 1 and hence not necessarily felt as a distinct word.

Noun

nerf f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)

1. (obsolete) nerve

   Synonym: zenuw

2. (botany) vein of a leaf

Derived terms

• bladnerf

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French

Etymology

From Middle French nerf, from Old French nerf, inherited from Latin nervus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛʁ/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

nerf m (plural nerfs)

1. (anatomy) nerve
2. (figuratively) force, power, strength

   Les nerfs, les garçons! On n'est pas sur un bateau de plaisance. — Put some muscle into it, boys! We are not on a pleasure boat!

Derived terms

• énerver
• innerver
• nerf de bœuf
• nerval
• nerver
• nerveux
• nervure

Related terms

• neurone

Further reading

• “nerf”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Middle French

Etymology

From Old French nerf.

Noun

nerf m (plural nerfz)

1. nerve

Descendants

• French: nerf

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Old French

Etymology

From Latin nervus.

Noun

nerf oblique singular, m (oblique plural ners, nominative singular ners, nominative plural nerf)

1. nerve
   • 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 185 of this essay:

     Donc lepre est maladie de chair et non pas du cueur, ne des os, de des nerfs etc.

     Therefore leprosy is a disease of the flesh and not of the heart, nor of the bones, nor of the nerves, etc.

Related terms

• nerveus

Descendants

• Middle French: nerf
  • French: nerf

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Welsh

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nɛrv/

Noun

nerf f (plural nerfau, not mutable)

1. nerve

Derived terms

• nerfol
• nerfus