▪ I. † goff1 Obs. rare.
[? Abbreviation of *goffer, godfa'r = godfather. Cf. gom.]
a. A godfather. b. = gaffer 1 and 2.
| 1483 Cath. Angl. 161/2 A Goffe, a godefader. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 711/1 A very cold conseeit of my goffe that he found. 1577 Misogonus ii. iii. (Brandl Quellen 443), Cha bene sadlinge my gofe cuccolds cowe. 1683 Yorksh. Dial. 33 See if Goff Hyldroth be gaen hand. Ibid. 49 God ya god moarne, Goff. |
▪ II. goff2 Obs. exc. dial.
(gɒf)
Also 9 guff.
[App. a. F. goffe awkward, stupid, ad. It. goffo (Sp. gofo), of uncertain origin.]
(See quots.)
| 1570 Levins Manip. 156/37 A Goffe, foole, morio, bardus. 1678 Pol. Ballads (1860) I. 205 He calls the bishop Grey⁓beard Goff, And makes his power a mere scoff. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2), Goff, a foolish clown. North. 1801 R. Anderson Cumbld. Ball. 18 My mudder caws me peer deyl'd guff. 1818 Hogg Brownie of Bodsbeck, etc. II. 186 Weel I wat ye'll never get the like o' her, great muckle hallanshaker-like guff. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., Goff, a foolish clown, a silly fellow, an oaf. 1878 Cumbld. Gloss., Goff, Guff, a fool. |
▪ III. goff
obs. form of goaf1; var. of golf.