# nef
## English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nɛf/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛf

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from French nef. Doublet of nave and nau.

#### Noun

nef (plural nefs)
* An extravagant table ornament and container used in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, made in the shape of a ship.

#### See also

* cadenas
* navicula

### Etymology 2

Short for numerically effective; introduced by Miles Reid.

#### Adjective

nef (not comparable)
* (algebraic geometry) Of a line bundle on a complete algebraic variety over a field: such that the degree of its restriction to every algebraic curve in the variety is non-negative.
** 1983, Miles Reid, “Minimal Models of Canonical 3-Folds”, in Advanced Studies in Pure Mathematics, volume 1, page 131:[…] this condition is the numerical consequence of the condition that for some $m>0$, the linear system $|mD|$ is effective and free; thus nef = "numerically (effective and free)".

##### Derived terms

* nefness

### Anagrams

* ENF, fen

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French nef, from Old French nef, from Latin nāvem, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us. Displaced by bateau and navire in the sense of "boat".

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nɛf/
* Audio (Switzerland):(file)

### Noun

nef f (plural nefs)
* (obsolete or poetic) vessel, ship
* (architecture) nave

#### Derived terms

* aéronef
* astronef
* porte-aéronefs

#### Related terms

* nacelle
* naval
* navire

#### Descendants

* → Breton: nev
* → English: nef

#### See also

* barque
* vaisseau

### Further reading

* “nef”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Icelandic
### Etymology

From Old Norse nef, from Proto-Germanic *nabją. Cognate with English neb.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /nɛːv/
* Rhymes: -ɛːv

### Noun

nef n (genitive singular nefs, nominative plural nef)
* nose
* beak

#### Derived terms

* taka í nefið (“to take snuff”)
* fitja upp á nefið (“to turn up one's nose”)
* með nefið ofan í hvers manns koppi (“nosy”)
* stökkva upp á nef sér (“to flare up, to get angry”)
* neflaus
* hafa bein í nefinu

## Mauritian Creole
### Etymology

From French neuf.

### Numeral

nef
* nine

### Adjective

nef
* new

## Middle French
### Alternative forms

* nau

### Etymology

From Old French nef, from Latin nāvis, nāvem.

### Noun

nef f (plural nefs or nefz)
* boat; ship; watercraft

#### Descendants

* French: nef (obsolete or poetic)
** → Breton: nev
** → English: nef
* Norman: nef

## Old Cornish
### Etymology

from Proto-Brythonic *neβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *nemos, from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”).

### Noun

nef
* heaven, sky
** c. 1200, Latin-Old Cornish Glossary in British Library MS Cotton Vespasian A XIV, folio 7 recto:
    Celum. nef.Sky. — sky.

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* naf, nau

### Etymology

From Latin nāvis, nāvem.

### Noun

nef oblique singular, f (oblique plural nés, nominative singular nef, nominative plural nés)
* boat; ship; watercraft

#### Related terms

* nacele

#### Descendants

* Middle French: nef, nau (Parisian dialect)
** French: nef (obsolete or poetic)
*** → Breton: nev
*** → English: nef
** Norman: nef
* Poitevin-Saintongeais: nau

## Old Norse
### Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *nabją.

### Noun

nef n (genitive nefs, plural nef)
* nose
* beak

#### Descendants

* Icelandic: nef; nebbi
* Faroese: nev, nebb, nebbi
* Norn: nev
* Norwegian: nebb
* Old Swedish: næf
** Swedish: näv (dialectal)
* Danish: næb

## Volapük
### Noun

nef (nominative plural nefs)
* nephew
* niece

#### Declension

$^1$ status as a case is disputed $^2$ in later, non-classical Volapük only

## Welsh
### Etymology

From Middle Welsh new, from Old Welsh nem, from Proto-Brythonic *neβ̃, from Proto-Celtic *nemos, from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”). Cognate with Breton neñv, Cornish nev and Irish neamh.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /neːv/
* Rhymes: -eːv

### Noun

nef f (plural nefoedd, not mutable)
* (frequently in the plural with singular meaning) heaven
    Synonym: nen

#### Related terms

* nwyfre (“firmament, the ether”)
* nyfel (“firmament, the ether”)
* nyfelwy (“firmament, the ether”)

### References

* R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “nef”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies