Old English · noun
gerefa
Normalised ġerēfa
- Part of speech
- noun, masculine
- Declension
- weak
- IPA
- /jeˈreː.fɑ/[jeˈreː.vɑ]
- Syllables
- je · ˈreː · fɑ (3 syllables)
- Modern English
- reevedistrictlocalmagistratejurisdictionofficialunder
Meaning
-
a reeve or official with local jurisdiction under the king; the chief magistrate of a district
Ġif ġesīþcund mon fare, þonne mōt hē habban his ġerēfan mid him ⁊ his smiþ ⁊ his ċildfestran.
If a noble man should move, then he may keep his reeve and his smith and his children's nurse with him.
Laws of King Ine
Declension
All forms (4)
Etymology
Allegedly from Proto-West Germanic *garāfijō, but this is unlikely on phonological grounds, since the West Saxon form has /eː/ and the Northumbrian and Mercian forms have /øː/. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests a connection to the second elements of seċġrōf and stæfrōf. By surface analysis, ġe- + rēfa.
Descendants
reeve
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gerefa · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution