Haaf
/hɑːf/noun
A Scots term for the open sea, especially the deep-sea fishing grounds far from shore.
Did you know?The haaf fishery was famously perilous: Scottish fishermen traveled far offshore in small boats, where storms and isolation made survival uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*hafą
“Sea or body of water; the reconstructed ancestor of related Germanic forms”
Old English
Old English
hæf
“Sea or ocean”
Old Norse
Old Norse
haf
“Sea, ocean, or open water”
Middle Scots
Scots
haaf
“The open sea, especially distant fishing waters”
18th–19th Century
Scots English
haaf
“The deep-sea fishing grounds off Scotland’s northern islands”
Modern English
English
haaf
“A chiefly Scottish term for the open sea or deep-sea fishery”