ef

• eff

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛf/
• Rhymes: -ɛf

ef (plural efs)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F.
   • 2004, Will Rogers, The Stonking Steps, page 170:

     I have drunk en-ee-cee-tee-ay-ar from the ef-ell-oh-doubleyou-ee-ar-ess in his gee-ay-ar-dee-ee-en many a time.

• eff

• (Latin-script letter names) letter; a, bee, cee, dee, e, ef, gee, aitch, i, jay, kay, el, em, en, o, pee, cue, ar, ess, tee, u, vee, double-u, ex, wye, zee / zed

ef

1. (nonstandard) Pronunciation spelling of if, representing dialectal English.
   • 1882, James Jackson, Tom Terror, the Outlaw‎:

     Captain Tom would have hired him to hunt down his own child, ef Rosebud hadn’t interfered.

• F&E, FE, Fe, f.e.

• IPA^(key): [ˈɛf]

ef n (indeclinable)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F.

• ef in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
• ef in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

From Old Norse ef, from Proto-Germanic *jabai.

• IPA^(key): /ɛːv/
• Rhymes: -ɛːv

ef

1. if

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ef/, [ɛf]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ef/, [ɛf]

ef f (indeclinable)

1. The name of the letter F.

• Multiple Latin names for the letter F, f have been suggested. The most common is ef or a syllabic f, although there is some evidence which also supports, as names for the letter, fē, əf, fə, and even (in the fourth- or fifth-century first Antinoë papyrus, which gives Greek transliterations of the Latin names of the Roman alphabet’s letters) ιφφε (iphphe).

• (Latin-script letter names) littera; ā, bē, cē, dē, ē, ef, gē, hā / *acca, ī, kā, el, em, en, ō, pē, kū, er, es, tē, ū, ix / īx / ex, ȳ / ī graeca / ȳpsīlon, zēta

• Arthur E. Gordon, The Letter Names of the Latin Alphabet (University of California Press, 1973; volume 9 of University of California Publications: Classical Studies), especially pages 30–31, 42–44, and 63

• IPA^(key): [ɛf]

ef m (invariable)

1. The Latvian name of the Latin script letter F/f.

• Latvian letter names:

  a (A), garais ā (Ā), bē (B), cē (C), čē (Č), dē (D), e (E), garais ē (Ē), ef (F), gā (G), ģē (Ģ), hā (H), i (I), garais ī (Ī), jē (J), kā (K), ķē (Ķ), el (L), eļ (Ļ), em (M), en (N), eņ (Ņ), o (O), pē (P), er (R), es (S), eš (Š), tē (T), u (U), garais ū (Ū), vē (V), zē (Z), žē (Ž)

• IPA^(key): /ɛf/

ef

1. The name of the Latin-script letter f.

• (Latin-script letter names) a, bej, cej, čet, ćej, dej, ej, ět, ef, gej, ha, cha, i, jot, ka, eł, el, em, en, ejn, o, pej, er, ejŕ, es, eš, śej, tej, u, wej, y, zet, žet, źej

• e, ep

Inherited from Latin apis.

• IPA^(key): /ˈeːf/

ef oblique singular, m (oblique plural es, nominative singular es, nominative plural ef)

1. bee

• Picard: é

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (ef)

From Proto-Germanic *jabai, originally the dative of *jabą (“doubt”), whence ef (“doubt”).

ef

1. if

• Icelandic: ef
• Old Swedish: ef, em, um
  • Swedish: om
  • Norwegian:
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: um (influenced by um < umb)
• Old Danish: æf, æm, um
  • Danish: om
    • Norwegian Bokmål: om
      • → Norwegian Nynorsk: om

From Proto-Germanic *jabą.

• if

ef

1. (obsolete) doubt

   mér er til efs

   I doubt

   (literally, “for me is at doubt”)

• iflaust (“doubtless, undoubted”)

• Old Swedish: iæf
  • Swedish: jäv

ef

1. if, when

From English ef, the English name of the letter F/f.

• Hyphenation: ef
• IPA^(key): /ʔef/, [ʔɛf]
• IPA^(key): /ˈʔep/, [ˈʔɛp] (colloquial)
• Rhymes: -ef

ef (Baybayin spelling ᜁᜉ᜔)

1. The name of the Latin-script letter F/f, in the Filipino alphabet.

   Synonym: (in the Abecedario) efe

• (Latin-script letter names) titik; ey, bi, si, di, i, ef, dyi, eyts, ay, dyey, key, el, em, en, enye, en dyi, o, pi, kyu, ar, es, ti, yu, vi, dobolyu, eks, way, zi

• “ef”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

From Proto-Indo-European *éy.

• IPA^(key): /eːv/
• Rhymes: -eːv

ef

1. (literary) he; him

• e, o (colloquial)