ef

See also: ef-, -ef, and EF

English

Alternative forms

• eff

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

Noun

ef (plural efs)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F/f.
   • 2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:

     I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.

Derived terms

• eff

Translations

name of the letter F, f

• Arabic: إِف m (ʔef)
• Asturian: efe (ast) f
• Bengali: এফ (eph)
• Catalan: efa (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: (English letter names are called as in English, no other standard Mandarin name exists)

• Esperanto: fo (eo)
• Finnish: äf (fi), äffä (fi)
• French: effe (fr) m or f
• Galician: efe (gl) m
• Greek: εφ n (ef)
• Hindi: एफ़ (ef), एफ (eph)
• Ido: fe (io)
• Irish: eif, fern
• Italian: effe (it) m or f
• Japanese: エフ (ja) (efu)
• Korean: 에프 (epeu)
• Latin: ef (la)
• Malay: ef
• Marathi: एफ (eph)
• Occitan: èfa f
• Persian: اف (fa) (ef)
• Portuguese: efe (pt) m
• Russian: эф (ru) n (ef)
• Spanish: efe (es) f
• Thai: เอฟ (th) (ef)
• Turkish: fe (tr)
• Welsh: èf f (with reference to Welsh), èff (with reference to other languages)

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

Conjunction

ef

1. (nonstandard) Pronunciation spelling of if, representing dialectal English.
   • 1882, James Jackson, Tom Terror, the Outlaw‎^[1]:

     Captain Tom would have hired him to hunt down his own child, ef Rosebud hadn’t interfered.

Anagrams

• F&E, FE, Fe, f.e.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛf]

Noun

ef n (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F/f.

Further reading

• “ef”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “ef”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse ef, from Proto-Germanic *jabai.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛːv/
• Rhymes: -ɛːv

Conjunction

ef

1. if

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch ef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛf/, [ɛf]

Noun

èf

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F/f.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; a, be, ce, de, e, ef, ge, ha, i, je, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, ki, er, es, te, u, ve, we, eks, ye, zet

Further reading

• “ef” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ef/, [ɛf]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ef/, [ɛf]

Noun

ef f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter F.

Usage notes

• Multiple Latin names for the letter F, f have been suggested. The most common is ef or a syllabic f, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter, fē, əf, fə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus, which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters) ιφφε (iphphe).

Coordinate terms

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

References

• Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63

Latvian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɛf]

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

ef m (invariable)

1. The Latvian name of the Latin script letter F/f.

See also

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛf/

Noun

ef m inan

1. The name of the Latin-script letter f/F.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) a, bej, cej, čet, ćej, dej, ej, ět, ef, gej, ha, cha, i, jot, ka, eł, el, em, en, ejn, o, pej, er, ejŕ, es, eš, śej, tej, u, wej, y, zet, žet, źej

Malay

Etymology

From English ef.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈef/ [ˈef]

Noun

éf (plural ef-ef)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F/f.

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) huruf; e, bi, si, di, i, ef, ji, hec, ai, je, ke, el, em, en, o, pi, kiu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dabel yu, eks, way, zed

Old French

Alternative forms

• e, ep

Etymology

Inherited from Latin apis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːf/

Noun

ef oblique singular, m or f (oblique plural es, nominative singular es, nominative plural ef)

1. bee

Descendants

• Picard: é

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (ef)

Old Norse

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *jabai, originally the dative of *jabą (“doubt”), whence ef (“doubt”).

Conjunction

ef

1. if

Descendants

• Icelandic: ef
• Old Swedish: ef, em, um
  • Swedish: om
  • Norwegian:
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: um (influenced by um < umb)
• Old Danish: æf, æm, um
  • Danish: om
    • Norwegian Bokmål: om
      • → Norwegian Nynorsk: om

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *jabą.

Alternative forms

• if

Noun

ef

1. (obsolete) doubt

   mér er til efs

   I doubt

   (literally, “for me is at doubt”)

Declension

  Declension of ef (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ef	efit	ef	efin
accusative	ef	efit	ef	efin
dative	efi	efinu	efum	efunum
genitive	efs	efsins	efa	efanna

Derived terms

• iflaust (“doubtless, undoubted”)

Descendants

• Old Swedish: iæf
  • Swedish: jäv

Old Saxon

Conjunction

ef

1. if, when

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English ef, the English name of the letter F/f.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ʔef/ [ʔɛf]
  • IPA^(key): (more native-sounding) /ʔep/ [ʔɛp̚]
• Rhymes: -ef, (more native-sounding) -ep
• Syllabification: ef

Noun

ef (Baybayin spelling ᜁᜉ᜔)

1. the name of the Latin-script letter F/f, in the Filipino alphabet

   Synonym: (in the Abecedario) efe

See also

• (Latin-script letter names) titik; ey, bi, si, di, i, ef, dyi, eyts, ay, dyey, key, el, em, en, enye, en dyi, o, pi, kyu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dobolyu, eks, way, zi

Further reading

• “ef”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *es or *ēs, from Proto-Indo-European *éy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eːv/
• Rhymes: -eːv

Pronoun

ef

1. (literary) he; him

Synonyms

• e, o (colloquial)