Luff
/lʌf/noun
To turn a sailing vessel toward the wind, or the forward edge of a sail nearest the wind.
Did you know?In nautical language, the same root also produced *loof* and helped form the old phrase *up to the luff*, showing how sailors turned wind direction into precise command words.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*luppō / *lūffō
“A soft, loose, or slack part; something hanging or bending”
Old Norse
ON
lúfa
“To hang loosely; to loll or droop”
Middle Dutch
MDutch
loef
“The windward side of a ship; also a sail’s windward edge”
Middle English
English
luffen
“To sail or turn a ship closer to the wind”
Modern English
English
luff
“To turn a vessel toward the wind; the windward edge of a sail”