deaf
adjective
- lacking the capacity to hear
noun
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L319108 on Wikidata ↗verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L331339 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dɛf/ / /diːf/ / /dɛːf/
adj
Etymology: From deaf.
- Of or relating to the culture surrounding deaf users of sign languages.
“Today, sign languages are the means of communication and interaction in Deaf communities around the world and have been shown to contain all the linguistic complexities and potentials of spoken languages (Stokoe, 1960/2005).”
“There are Deaf clubs in many cities, but the clubs are just a part of the larger community of Deaf people.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf. Cognate with Dutch doof, German taub, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål døv, Norwegian Nynorsk dauv, Swedish döv, Faroese deyvur, Icelandic daufur.
- A deaf person.
“Among the second group of philanthropic educational institutions the institutes for the deafs and dumbs must be mentioned.”
“Negotiations for South Vietnam's political future and the enforcement of cease-fire between two sides progressed like a conversation between two deafs.”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf. Cognate with Dutch doof, German taub, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål døv, Norwegian Nynorsk dauv, Swedish döv, Faroese deyvur, Icelandic daufur.
- To deafen.
“It is enough, my hearing shall be punish'd With what shall happen, -- 'gainst the which there is No deafing -- but to hear, not taint mine eye With dread sights that it may shun.”
“Svvift as a VVhirl-vvind to the Nurſe he flyes; / And deafs his ſtormy Subjects vvith his cries.”