chaff

C2+ Topic:Plants & Agriculture

Also spelled a-chaffin and caffin

US /tʃæf/ UK /tʃɑːf/ See IPA manual

noun verb

Meanings

1

noun
the husks of grain separated from the seed; worthless matter; to tease

Winnowing separates the grain from the chaff.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the husks of grain... huskstrash refuse dross tease banter rib mock

Opposites

grain wheat

Word family

Derived forms chaffy chaffer

Etymology

From Old English ceaf ('husks of grain'), from Proto-Germanic *kaf-, of uncertain ultimate origin. The verb sense 'to tease' may be a separate or jocular development.

ceaf Old English *kaf- Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Plants & Agriculture

# chaff

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** tʃæf
**IPA (UK):** tʃɑːf

## Meanings
1. the husks of grain separated from the seed; worthless matter; to tease

## Examples
- Winnowing separates the grain from the chaff.

## Synonyms
- husks
- trash
- refuse
- dross
- tease
- banter
- rib
- mock

## Antonyms
- grain
- wheat

## Derived Forms
- chaffy
- chaffer

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ceaf
- Root: *kaf-

## Etymology
From Old English ceaf ('husks of grain'), from Proto-Germanic *kaf-, of uncertain ultimate origin. The verb sense 'to tease' may be a separate or jocular development.

## AI Etymology
Chaff is a noun and verb meaning "the husks of grain separated from the seed; worthless matter; to tease". Historically, it is from Old English ceaf ('husks of grain'), from Proto-Germanic *kaf-, of uncertain ultimate origin. The verb sense 'to tease' may be a separate or jocular development. The older history should therefore be treated cautiously rather than as settled. The semantic history matters here: the earlier use is the starting point, and the modern sense, "the husks of grain separated from the seed; worthless matter; to tease", is the later or specialized English value. The historical chain links Old English ceaf with Proto-Germanic *kaf-. Close English family members include chaffy, and chaffer.

## Topics
- Plants & Agriculture

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chaff

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