Roof
/ruːf/noun
The covering at the top of a building.
Did you know?English roof is one of those old inherited words whose exact pre-Germanic origin is uncertain, but it has been part of the language’s shelter vocabulary since the earliest Old English records.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hrōfaz
“roof, covering, shelter”
Old English
OE
hrōf
“roof; canopy; top covering”
Middle English
ME
roof
“roof; upper covering of a building”
Modern English
EN
roof
“the covering of a building”