loft

Etymology

From Middle English lofte (“air, sky, upper region, loft”), from Old English loft, (doublet of native Old English lyft) of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lopt (“upper chamber, attic, region of sky, air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“air, sky”). Akin to Scots lift (“air; sky; firmament”), Dutch lucht (“air”), German Luft (“air”), Old English lyft (“air”). More at lift, aloft.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /lɔft/, enPR: lôft
• (cot–caught merger, Canada) IPA^(key): /lɑft/, enPR: lŏft
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /lɒft/, enPR: lŏft
• Rhymes: -ɒft

Noun

loft (plural lofts)

1. (obsolete, except in derivatives) air, the air; the sky, the heavens.
2. An attic or similar space (often used for storage) in the roof of a house or other building.
3. (textiles) The thickness of a soft object when not under pressure.
4. A gallery or raised apartment in a church, hall, etc.

   an organ loft

5. (golf) The pitch or slope of the face of a golf club (tending to drive the ball upward).
6. (obsolete) A floor or room placed above another.
   • Bible, Acts xx. 9

     Eutychus […] fell down from the third loft.

Verb

loft (third-person singular simple present lofts, present participle lofting, simple past and past participle lofted)

1. (transitive) To propel high into the air.
   • 2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Marouane Chamakh then spurned a great chance to kill the game off when he ran onto Andrey Arshavin's lofted through ball but shanked his shot horribly across the face of goal.

2. (intransitive) To fly or travel through the air, as though propelled
   • 2004, Wallace Akin, The Forgotten Storm:

     When she saw houses lofting past her window, she ran to the child, who slept on a feather bed and she gathered the coverlet around them both.

3. (bowling) To throw the ball erroneously through the air instead of releasing it on the lane's surface.

Adjective

loft (comparative more loft, superlative most loft)

1. (obsolete, rare) lofty; proud; haughty

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Surrey to this entry?)

Related terms

• aloft
• lofty
• cockloft
• hayloft, hay loft

Etymology

Cognate to luft (“air”).

Noun

loft

1. attic, room immediately below the roof of a building
2. ceiling, structure separating stories in a building
3. (by extension) an upper limit to something

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɔft/
• Rhymes: -ɔft

Noun

loft n (genitive singular lofts, nominative plural loft)

1. air
2. sky
3. loft, attic
4. ceiling

Etymology

From Old Norse lopt

Noun

loft n (definite singular loftet, indefinite plural loft, definite plural lofta or loftene)

1. a loft or attic
2. a two-storey medieval building

References

• “loft” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From Old Norse lopt

Noun

loft n (definite singular loftet, indefinite plural loft, definite plural lofta)

1. a loft or attic
2. a two-storey medieval building

References

• “loft” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Noun

loft m (plural lofts)

1. loft

Noun

loft

1. air, sky (loft does not include air as a mixture of gasses)