Dorf
/dɔʁf/noun
A German word meaning a village or small rural settlement, also used in English as a German loanword or place-name element.
Did you know?Dorf is a close German relative of English “thorp” and “thorpe,” words preserved in many English village and place names.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*þurpą
“A village, estate, or rural settlement”
4th–6th Century
Gothic
𐍀𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍀 (þaurp)
“A village or settlement”
8th–11th Century
Old High German
dorf
“A village or inhabited rural place”
11th–14th Century
Middle High German
dorf
“A village or small settlement”
Modern English
English
dorf
“A German village, or a German place-name element, used as a loanword”
Modern German
German
Dorf
“Village”