neif

See also: nëif

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /niːf/, /neɪf/
• Rhymes: -iːf, -eɪf

Etymology 1

From Old French neif, from Latin nātīvā (“female serf”). Doublet of naïf and native.

Alternative forms

• neife, nief

Noun

neif (plural neifs)

1. (historical) A woman born in the state of villeinage; a female serf.
   • 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC:

     Neifs indeed had also an appeal of rape, in case the lord violated them by force

Etymology 2

Noun

neif (plural neifs)

1. Alternative spelling of nief (“fist”)

Anagrams

• Enif, Fein, Fine, NiFe, feni, fine, ifen, nief, nife

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “neif”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Volapük

Noun

neif (nominative plural neifs)

1. knife

Declension

declension of neif

	singular	plural
nominative	neif	neifs
genitive	neifa	neifas
dative	neife	neifes
accusative	neifi	neifis
vocative 1	o neif!	o neifs!
predicative 2	neifu	neifus

• ¹ status as a case is disputed
• ² in later, non-classical Volapük only