▪ I. haft, n.1
(hɑːft, -æ-)
Forms: α. 1 hæft, 4– haft, 5–6 hafte, (6 haughte). β. 4 hefþe, 4–6 hefte, 4– heft (7 heaft).
[OE. hæft(e neut., handle, corresp. to OHG. hęfti (MHG. hęfte, G. heft neut.), MLG. hechte (Du. hecht, heft), ON. hepti:—(OTeut. *haftjo{supm}, f. root haf- heave, or haƀ- have; app. that by which anything is taken hold of or grasped. (For OE. æ for ę see Sievers Ags. Gr. §89. i. 1.)]
1. a. A handle; esp. that of a cutting or piercing instrument, as a dagger, knife, sickle, etc.
| c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 142/21 Manubrium, hæft and helfe. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 272 ᵹegnid þonne..mid sticcan oþþe mid hæfte. 1382 Wyclif Deut. xix. 5 The axe fleeth the hoond, and the yren, slipt of fro the haft, smytith his freend. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xxxix. 163 A croked yron well sharp and trenchaunt with a long hafte. 1555 Eden Decades 224 A long dager with a hafte of golde. 1690 Lond. Gaz. No. 2525/4, 8 Knives and 8 Forks with Silver Hafts. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 52 The shells of this animal resemble..the haft of a razor. 1866 Laing & Huxley Preh. Rem. Caithn. 41 One end..was clearly inserted in a socket or haft. |
| β 13.. Seuyn Sag. (W.) 259 Under heft, and under hond. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 791 Tak al-so my swerd..þe hefþe of hym doþ greuaunce to my wounde wyde. 1483 Cath. Angl. 179/2 An Hefte, manubrium, manutentum. 1551 Turner Herbal i. H vj b, To make knyffe heftes. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxxii. 63 Baith heft and blead ar in ȝour hand. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Suffolk iii. (1662) 73 If the Heaft belonged to Walworth, the Blade, or point thereof at least, may be adjudged to Cavendish. 1878 Browning Poets Croisic 113 Hilt and heft. |
† b. Phr. loose in the haft (fig.), unstable, unreliable. to have other haft(s) in hand, to have other business to do, ‘other fish to fry’. Obs.
| c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II 362 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 339 Unnethe is nu eny man that can eny craft That he nis a party los in the haft. c 1440 York Myst. xx. 76 Other haftis in hande haue we. c 1460 Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 159 For othere haft in hand haue we. |
c. Bot. Of an iris: the narrow part, or claw, at the base of the petal.
| 1924 W. R. Dykes Handbk. Garden Irises i. 1 An Iris flower consists usually of three outer segments called falls and of three inner segments called standards... The lower part of both the falls and the standards is usually called the haft. 1948 G. Anley Irises 113 Haft, the narrowed portion at the base of a perianth segment. |
2. Comb., as haft-maker; haft-pipe (see quot.).
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) III. 395 Bladers, haft-makers, and sheath-makers. 1853 Byrne Handbk. for Artisan 441 Small tools are temporarily fixed by their tangs in a wooden handle to facilitate their presentation to the [grind] stone; the handle is called a haft-pipe. |
▪ II. haft, n.2 Sc. and north. dial.
Also heft, ? heff.
[Goes app. with haft v.3]
1. Fixed or established place of abode.
| 1785 Forbes Dominie Deposed 46 (Jam.) I did resolve to change the haft. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xviii, ‘Her bairn,’ she said, ‘was her bairn, and she came to fetch her out of ill haft and waur guiding’. |
2. Settled or accustomed pasture-ground. See also heft n.3
| c 1800 Young Ann. Agric. XXVII. 185 (Cheviots) The haunt which a sheep adopts, in the language of shepherds is called its haft. 1825 Jamieson, Heff, an accustomed pasture..The attachment of sheep to a particular pasture. |
▪ III. haft, n.3 midl. dial.
[Origin uncertain: cf. prec.]
An island in a pool.
| 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 232 To see whether the Hafts or Islands in the pooles (upon which they build their neasts) be prepared for them. 1804 T. Bewick Brit. Birds (1847) II. 210 The owners of some of the fens and marshes in this kingdom..caused the little islets or hafts in those wastes, to be cleared of the reeds and rushes. |
▪ IV. haft, v.1
Also 5– heft.
[f. haft n.1]
1. trans. To fit with, or fix in, a haft or handle.
| c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. lxxxii. (1869) 105 For to hafte ther-with hire mailettes. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. lxxvi. 155 a, His Dagger and Rapyer..were hafted with pure golde. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 528 A bone..with which he said he would haft a knife. 1753 Parsons in Phil. Trans. XLVIII. 380 I used a wire hafted in a glass tube. 1866 Reader 22 Sept. 307 Several show in an interesting manner how the stone celts or chisels..were hafted. |
| β c 1440 Promp. Parv. 235/1 Helvyn or heftyn, manubrio. 1483 Cath. Angl. 480/1 To Hefte or to make Heftis, manubriare. 1871 Daily Tel. 1 Nov., By dint of the sharp edge of common sense strongly hefted with broad human and Christian sympathy. |
† 2. To drive in up to the haft. Obs. rare.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis, etc. (Arb.) 143 This mye blade in thy body should bee with speedines hafted. |
Hence ˈhafting vbl. n., fitting with a haft.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 232/1 Heftynge, manubriacio. 1538 MS. Acc. St. John's Hosp., Canterb., Payd for haftyng off the ij hand saw. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 487 The bones of Sheep have also their use and employment for the hafting of knifes. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 57 The sickle is ready for hafting. |
▪ V. † haft, v.2 Obs.
[Known only from 16th c., but perh. representing an OE. type *hæftian, corresp. to OS. haftôn, OHG. haftên to remain fixed or fast, to stick, Ger. haften (to be distinguished from the trans. OE. hæftan = OS. hęftian, Goth. haftjan, OHG. heftan, Ger. heften to make fast, fix, etc.).]
intr. To use subtilty or deceit, to use shifts or dodges; to haggle, cavil; to avoid coming to the point, hold off, hang back.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. (1530) S viij, Haftynge, dolus malus. 1557 Tusser 100 Points Husb. lx, Spende none but thyne owne, howsoeuer thou spende: nor haft not to god ward, for that he doth sende. 1600 Holland Livy xxvii. xxxix. 967 It was not expedient to lie off and haft any longer. 1603 ― Plutarch's Mor. 474 The tyrant, who put them off from day to day, and hafted with them so, as he gave them no audience. 1644 Bulwer Chirol. 161 One while hafting and wrankling, another while praying and intreating. |
Hence † ˈhafting vbl. n., subtle dealing, dodging, cavilling, trickery; holding off, hesitation, demur. Also attrib. in hafting point, question. Obs.
| 1519 W. Horman Vulg. (1530) N iv, There is a haftynge poynt, or a false subtylte. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 707 Craftynge and haftynge contryued is by me; I can dyssemble, I can both laughe and grone. Ibid. 1698 To vse suche haftynge and crafty wayes. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Eph. Prol., Whan was there more haftyng and craftyng to scrape money to gether. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Cauilla..a mocke: a scoffe: an hafting question: a cauill. 1600 Holland Livy 377 Why they loitered and made such hafting. 1609 ― Amm. Marcell. (N.) He grew enkindled, and without any further hafting or holding off, delivered up all that was demaunded. |
▪ VI. haft, v.3 Sc. and north. dial.
Also heft.
[Goes app. with haft n.2: origin uncertain: a connexion suggests itself with G. heften to fasten, attach, OS. hęftian to make fast: but sometimes there seems to be association with haft v.1]
1. trans. To establish in a situation or place of residence, to locate, fix; spec. to accustom (sheep, cattle) to a pasturage.
| 1728 Ramsay Betty & Kate iv, For sindle times they e'er come back, Wha anes are heftit there. 1823 Mactaggart Gall. Encycl. s.v., Animals are said to be hafted, when they live contented on strange pastures, when they have made a haunt. 1835 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 26, I am wonderfully well hefted here; the people are extravagantly kind to me. 1893 Heslop Northumb. Gloss. s.v., To heft, to keep stock upon a certain pasture until accustomed to go there. |
b. intr. (for refl.) To establish itself.
| 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. i. ii, Ill-nature hefts in sauls that's weak and poor. 1794 S. Young in Statist. Acc. Scotl. XII. 86 Such attention..as ought to be paid to stranger, or what is called hefting sheep. |
2. transf. and fig. To set or plant firmly, fix, root, establish, settle.
| 1755 Guthrie's Trial 249 They heft their heart in their own honesty and resolutions, and not in the blessed root Christ Jesus. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxxix, The root of the matter was mair deeply hafted in that wild muirland parish than in the Canongate of Edinburgh. 1824 ― Redgauntlet let. ix, It may be as well that Alan and you do not meet till he is hefted as it were to his new calling. 1872 De Morgan Budget Paradoxes 20 It shows how well hafted is the Royal Society's claim. |