Dictionary

lofe en · NOUN · etymology 1

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English lofe, lof (“praise, price”), from Old English lof (“praise, glory, repute, song of praise, hymn”), from Proto-West Germanic *lob, from Proto-Germanic *lubą (“praise, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, like”) (and thence a distant cognate of English love). Cognate with Scots lofe (“an offer”), North Frisian lof (“praise”), Dutch lof (“praise, glory, commendation”), German Lob (“praise, commendation, tribute”), Icelandic lof (“praise”). For semantic development, perhaps compare etymology of praise and its senses.

Meanings

1. (Northern-England, West-Midlands) An offer; choice; an opportunity; chance.
   • "Yance I hed t' lofe an' I'd luck to say no, an' I niver hed t' lofe ageàn."—Said by an elderly spinster. 1869, Alexander Craig Gibson, The Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent, page 212:

Forms

lofe en · VERB · etymology 2

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English loven (“to praise, set a price on”), from Old English lofian (“to praise, exalt, appraise, value, set a price on”), from Proto-West Germanic *lobōn, from Proto-Germanic *lubōną (“to praise, vow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, like”). Cognate with Scots loave (“to offer at a price”), North Frisian lowe (“to vow, swear”), Dutch loven (“to praise, bless, commend”), German loben (“to praise, laud, commend”), Icelandic lofa (“to promise, praise, allow”).

Meanings

1. (UK, dialectal, obsolete, transitive) To praise; commend.
2. (Northern-England, West-Midlands, transitive) To offer; offer at a price; expose for sale.
   • Ah'd lofed him it an' he wadn't tak 't. 1899, William Dickinson, Edward William Prevost, Simon Dickson Brown, A Glossary of the Words and Phrases Pertaining to the Dialect of Cumberland, page 202:

Forms

Relateds

lovely