thoft Now north. dial.
(θɒft)
Forms: 1 þofta, 4 thoffte, 4– thoft, 9 Sc. thaft (Shetland, Isle of Man taft, taff).
[OE. þofte (wk. fem.), = ON. þopta (Norw., Da. tofte), OHG. dofta; MLG., LG. ducht, whence Ger. ducht (duft), MDu. dofte, dochte, Du. doft:—OTeut. *þuftô:—Indo-Eur. *tuptâ, f. root *tup to squat, sit low. Also Gaelic tobhta from Lowland Sc. or Norse. See also thought2.
Þofta in quot. c 1000 is either a scribal error for þoftan, or pl. of a str. fem. þoft.
It is remarkable that this word, which must have lived on in the north, should appear only once between 1336 and the 19th c.]
A rower's bench; = thwart n.2
| c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 166/17 Transtra, scipsetl. Transtra, uel juga, þofta. c 1050 Suppl. ælfric's Voc. ibid. 182/5 Transtra, þoftan. 1307–8 Acc. Exch. K.R. Bd. 14 No. 14 (P.R.O.), In .C. bordis estricis emptis..ad faciendum inde Thoftes, Hurdys, et cotes pro dicta Bargia..xv. s... In .vj. bordis emptis..ad ponendum sub Thoftis..iij. s. 1336 Acc. Exch. K.R. Bundle 19. No. 31. m. 6 Et in xiiij lignis emptis pro Thofftes inde faciendis precium cuiuslibet .vj. d. 1513 Douglas æneis v. iii. 63 (Camb. MS.) The remanent of ye rowaris..Apon yair scyttis and thoftis all atanys Yair placis hynt. [Cf. Virg. v. 136 considunt transtris.] 1808–18 Jamieson, Thafts, the benches of a boat, on which the rowers sit. 1827 Blackw. Mag. XXI. 859 This waterman on one ‘thoft’ presenting the breadth of his oar before the wind and with the stream. 1834 H. Miller Scenes & Leg. xvii. (1857) 251 One of the poor fellows tumbled over the thaft. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Thofts, the thwarts, or plank-seats across a boat. 1885 J. Runciman Skippers & Sh. 21 Leapt lightly on the thoft. 1887 T. E. Brown Doctor 18 (I. of Man) Sortin them out On the taff. 1891 Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 51 (Shetl.) Strik rouwin faider frae his taft. 1904 Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. (Shetl.), In a boat the thoft where the mast stands is called the sailing thoft. |
| Comb. 1847–78 Halliwell, Thoft-fellow, a fellow oarsman. [Cf. 1874 Vigfusson Icel. Dict., þóþti, a bench-fellow.] |