Hoof
/huːf/noun
The hard foot of a horse, cow, deer, or other hoofed animal.
Did you know?Hoof comes from Old English hōf, and it’s related to German Huf and Dutch hoef, showing how a very old Germanic word for an animal’s foot survived almost unchanged.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*k̑op-
“A root associated with a hoof or hoof-like foot”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hōfą
“A hoof or animal foot”
Old English
OE
hōf
“The hoof of an animal”
Middle English
ME
hoof
“An animal’s hoof”
Modern English
English
hoof
“The hard foot of a hoofed animal”