nerf
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /nɜːf/
- (General American) IPA(key): /nɝf/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f
Etymology 1
Circa 1950s? (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Verb
nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)
- (motor racing, transitive) To bump lightly, whether accidentally or purposefully.
- A racer will often nerf another as a psychological tactic.
Derived terms
- nerf bar
- nerf net
Etymology 2
From the Nerf brand of toys designed as non-dangerous counterparts of existing things, such as sports balls and guns. Originally used to equate a change in the damage of a weapon in a video game to a change from real weapons to Nerf weapons.
Verb
nerf (third-person singular simple present nerfs, present participle nerfing, simple past and past participle nerfed)
- (transitive, slang, video games) To change a mechanic, an ability or a character in a video game in order to make a previously dominant strategy less viable or less effective.
- Synonym: gimp
- The lightning spell was originally pretty powerful, but in the sequel they nerfed it so it became completely useless.
- (transitive, slang) To arbitrarily limit or reduce the capability of.
- 2019 May 17, Fred Lambert, Electrek, retrieved 2019-05-19:
- Tesla nerfs Autopilot in Europe due to new regulations
Synonyms
- debuff, worsen, deteriorate, cripple, declaw, defang, degenerate
Antonyms
- ameliorate, buff (game slang), improve, renew, renovate, revamp
Derived terms
- stealth nerf
Translations
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Noun
nerf (plural nerfs)
- (slang, video games) The deterioration, weakening or worsening of a character, a weapon, a spell, etc.
Anagrams
- Fern, fern, fren, fren'
Dutch
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɛrf/
Audio (file) - Hyphenation: nerf
- Rhymes: -ɛrf
Etymology 1
From earlier nerve, from Middle Dutch *narwe, either inherited from Old Dutch *narwa or borrowed from Middle Low German narwe, eventually from Proto-Germanic *narwō, from earlier *arwaz (“scar”).[1]
For the change of -rwe → -rf, compare verf. Cognate with German Narbe (“scar”).
Noun
nerf f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)
- grain of wood
- (dated) a similar line in leather, paper, etc.
Derived terms
- houtnerf
Etymology 2
From Latin nervus. The botanic sense belongs historically to this word, but is semantically close to etymology 1 and hence not necessarily felt as a distinct word.
Noun
nerf f (plural nerven, diminutive nerfje n)
- (obsolete) nerve
- Synonym: zenuw
- (botany) vein of a leaf
Derived terms
- bladnerf
References
- Kroonen, Guus (2013), “arwiz-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 37-38
French
Etymology
From Middle French nerf, from Old French nerf, inherited from Latin nervus.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɛʁ/
audio (file)
Noun
nerf m (plural nerfs)
- (anatomy) nerve
- (figuratively) force, power, strength
- Les nerfs, les garçons! On n'est pas sur un bateau de plaisance. ― Put some muscle into it, boys! We are not on a pleasure boat!
Derived terms
- à bout de nerfs
- avoir les nerfs à vif
- crise de nerfs
- du nerf
- énerver
- être sur les nerfs
- guerre des nerfs
- innerver
- nerf crânien
- nerf de bœuf
- nerf du canal ptérygoïdien
- nerf phrénique
- nerf radial
- nerf sacculaire
- nerf saphène
- nerf sciatique
- nerf spinal
- nerf splanchnique
- nerf subclavier
- nerf trijumeau
- nerf trochléaire
- nerf vague
- nerf vestibulocochléaire
- nerf vidien
- nerval
- nerver
- nerveux
- nervure
- passer ses nerfs
- taper sur les nerfs
Related terms
- neuro-
- neurone
- névro-
Further reading
- “nerf”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Etymology
From Old French nerf.
Noun
nerf m (plural nerfz)
- nerve
Descendants
- French: nerf
Old French
Etymology
From Latin nervus.
Noun
nerf m (oblique plural ners, nominative singular ners, nominative plural nerf)
- nerve
- 1377, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 185 of this essay:
- Donc lepre est maladie de chair et non pas du cueur, ne des os, de des nerfs etc.
- Therefore leprosy is a disease of the flesh and not of the heart, nor of the bones, nor of the nerves, etc.
-
Related terms
- nerveus
Descendants
- Middle French: nerf
- French: nerf
Welsh
Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin nervus (“nerve”), from Latin nervus (“sinew”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /nɛrv/
Noun
nerf f (plural nerfau, not mutable)
- nerve
Derived terms
- nerfol
- nerfus