# loafer
## English
### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈləʊfə/
* (General American) IPA: /ˈloʊfɚ/
* Rhymes: -əʊfə(ɹ)

### Etymology 1

Perhaps short for landloafer, possibly a partial translation of German Landläufer (compare dialectal German loofen (“to run”), and English landlouper); or more likely connected to Middle English love, loove, loffinge, looffinge (“a remnant, the rest, that which remains or lingers”), from Old English lāf (“remainder, residue, what is left”) (more at lave), which is akin to Scots lave (“the rest, remainder”), Old English lǣfan (“to let remain, leave behind”) (more at leave).

#### Noun

loafer (plural loafers)
* An idle person.
** 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, page 39:The garden was bounded by a three-foot brick wall with a fringe of wood rails upon the top, and against this wall was leaning a stalwart police constable, surrounded by a small knot of loafers, who craned their necks and strained their eyes in the vain hope of catching some glimpse of the proceedings within.
** 1923, George Washington Ogden, “Chapter 2”, in The Baron of Diamond Tail:Along this unequal way, where loafers sat on whittled benches, lounged in doorways, leaned against porch props, Dan Gustin went pegging in his high-heeled boots like a mule in a Mexican chain hobble, holding a straight course for the hotel, past the doors of temptation.
* A shoe with no laces, resembling a moccasin.
** 2023 May 31, Nigel Harris, “Comment: GBR now! We have no Plan B”, in RAIL, number 984, page 3:Someone must explain to Sunak about the time bomb ticking beneath his £1,000 loafers.

##### Synonyms

* (idle person): bum, bumpkin, footler, idler, lout, yob, yobbo
* (footwear): penny loafer
* See also Thesaurus:idler

##### Translations
#### Verb

loafer (third-person singular simple present loafers, present participle loafering, simple past and past participle loafered)
* (dialect, intransitive) To loaf around; to be idle.

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish lobo (“wolf”), reinterpreted as or conflated with loafer (“idler”); compare the alternative forms which reflect other re-interpretations and conflations. Doublet of lupus and wolf.

#### Alternative forms

* lobo, lobo wolf
* lofer (wolf), lover (wolf), loper (wolf)

#### Noun

loafer (plural loafers)
* (Southwestern US dialects) A wolf, especially a grey or timber wolf.
** 1964, Ike Blasingame, Dakota Cowboy: My Life in the Old Days, page 72:The great menace to livestock, other than the continual battle with cold, [...] was the gray wolf. [...] The big loafers came in from everywhere.
** 2010, Cynthia K. Rhodes, Lucille Mulhall: An Athlete of Her Time, →ISBN:Cowboys had killed “loafers” at five hundred yards away with rifles. [...] Lucille was not like most cowhands and she sets out to capture the "loafer" with her lariat.
** 2016, Patrick Dearen, A Cowboy of the Pecos, page 128:By the 1890s loafers had become such a problem that some newly organized counties, as well as certain cattle outfits, paid bounties for their scalps. For a cowboy making a dollar or so a day, wolf-hunting could be lucrative.

##### Usage notes

* Often used in compound with "wolf": "loafer wolf".

#### Further reading

* Robert N. Smead, Vocabulario Vaquero/Cowboy Talk: A Dictionary of Spanish Terms from the American West

### Anagrams

* Falero, floræ, Florea, florae

## Finnish
### Etymology

From English loafer

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈlou̯fer/, [ˈlo̞u̯fe̞r]
* Rhymes: -oufer

### Noun

loafer
* Synonym of louferi (“loafer”).

#### Declension

Possessive forms of loafer (Kotus type 6/paperi, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
loaferini
loaferini
accusative
nom.
loaferini
loaferini
gen.
loaferini
genitive
loaferini
loaferieni loafereideni loafereitteni
partitive
loaferiani
loafereitani loaferejani
inessive
loaferissani
loafereissani
elative
loaferistani
loafereistani
illative
loaferiini
loafereihini
adessive
loaferillani
loafereillani
ablative
loaferiltani
loafereiltani
allative
loaferilleni
loafereilleni
essive
loaferinani
loafereinani
translative
loaferikseni
loafereikseni
abessive
loaferittani
loafereittani
instructive
comitative
—loafereineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
loaferisi
loaferisi
accusative
nom.
loaferisi
loaferisi
gen.
loaferisi
genitive
loaferisi
loaferiesi loafereidesi loafereittesi
partitive
loaferiasi
loafereitasi loaferejasi
inessive
loaferissasi
loafereissasi
elative
loaferistasi
loafereistasi
illative
loaferiisi
loafereihisi
adessive
loaferillasi
loafereillasi
ablative
loaferiltasi
loafereiltasi
allative
loaferillesi
loafereillesi
essive
loaferinasi
loafereinasi
translative
loaferiksesi
loafereiksesi
abessive
loaferittasi
loafereittasi
instructive
comitative
—loafereinesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
loaferimme
loaferimme
accusative
nom.
loaferimme
loaferimme
gen.
loaferimme
genitive
loaferimme
loaferiemme loafereidemme loafereittemme
partitive
loaferiamme
loafereitamme loaferejamme
inessive
loaferissamme
loafereissamme
elative
loaferistamme
loafereistamme
illative
loaferiimme
loafereihimme
adessive
loaferillamme
loafereillamme
ablative
loaferiltamme
loafereiltamme
allative
loaferillemme
loafereillemme
essive
loaferinamme
loafereinamme
translative
loaferiksemme
loafereiksemme
abessive
loaferittamme
loafereittamme
instructive
comitative
—loafereinemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
loaferinne
loaferinne
accusative
nom.
loaferinne
loaferinne
gen.
loaferinne
genitive
loaferinne
loaferienne loafereidenne loafereittenne
partitive
loaferianne
loafereitanne loaferejanne
inessive
loaferissanne
loafereissanne
elative
loaferistanne
loafereistanne
illative
loaferiinne
loafereihinne
adessive
loaferillanne
loafereillanne
ablative
loaferiltanne
loafereiltanne
allative
loaferillenne
loafereillenne
essive
loaferinanne
loafereinanne
translative
loaferiksenne
loafereiksenne
abessive
loaferittanne
loafereittanne
instructive
comitative
—loafereinenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
loaferinsa
loaferinsa
accusative
nom.
loaferinsa
loaferinsa
gen.
loaferinsa
genitive
loaferinsa
loaferiensa loafereidensa loafereittensa
partitive
loaferiaan loaferiansa
loafereitaan loaferejaan loafereitansa loaferejansa
inessive
loaferissaan loaferissansa
loafereissaan loafereissansa
elative
loaferistaan loaferistansa
loafereistaan loafereistansa
illative
loaferiinsa
loafereihinsa
adessive
loaferillaan loaferillansa
loafereillaan loafereillansa
ablative
loaferiltaan loaferiltansa
loafereiltaan loafereiltansa
allative
loaferilleen loaferillensa
loafereilleen loafereillensa
essive
loaferinaan loaferinansa
loafereinaan loafereinansa
translative
loaferikseen loaferiksensa
loafereikseen loafereiksensa
abessive
loaferittaan loaferittansa
loafereittaan loafereittansa
instructive
comitative
—loafereineen loafereinensa :

### Further reading

* “loafer”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-03