wheft

English

Etymology

Possibly a blend of waft (“breeze, indicative flag”) +‎ Middle English wef (“odour, stench”), itself likely derived from weven (“to move about”) or a variant of wayf; compare wek, variant of weyk (“weak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wɛft/, (without the wine–whine merger) /hwɛft/

Noun

wheft (plural whefts)

1. (nautical) A waft (flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal)