# nerf
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /nɜːf/
* (General American) IPA: /nɝf/
* Audio (General Australian):(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.
** 1953, Henry Gregor Felsen, Street Rod, Random House, page 129:"The crazy fool!" Ricky exclaimed. "Nerfing me!"

##### Derived terms

* nerf bar
* nerf ball
* 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
#### 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: /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”).
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

##### Descendants

* Afrikaans: nerf

### 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

##### Related terms

* enerveren
* nerveus

### References

* ↑ Guus Kroonen (2013) “arwiz-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 37-38

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French nerf, from Old French nerf, inherited from Latin nervus.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /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 oblique singular, 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 English nerve.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nɛrv/

### Noun

nerf f (plural nerfau, not mutable)
* nerve

#### Derived terms

* nerfol
* nerfus