Woof
/wʊf/noun
A dog's bark, or the crosswise yarn woven through the lengthwise threads of fabric.
Did you know?The animal-sound sense is an example of onomatopoeia, while the textile sense is much older and comes from the same Germanic weaving family as “weave” and “web.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*webh-
“To weave or interlace threads.”
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*wabjō
“The crosswise thread or woven fabric.”
Old English
Old English
wēf
“Woven fabric or the thread woven across the warp.”
Middle English
Middle English
woof
“The crosswise threads in woven cloth.”
17th Century
English
woof
“An imitative representation of a dog’s bark.”
Modern English
English
woof
“A dog’s bark; also, the weft or crosswise yarn in fabric.”