deaf

B1 Topic:Senses & Perception

Also spelled deef

US /dɛf/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like death /θ/ vs /f/

noun verb adj Freq #3513

Meanings

1

adj
Unable to hear, either completely or partly.

He has been deaf since he was a child.
2

adj
Unwilling to listen to something.

They were deaf to all our warnings.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

hearing-impaired

Word family

Forms deaferdeafest

Derived forms beat-deafdeaf-blinddeaf-blindnessdeaf-mutedeaf-mutenessdeafblinddeafendeafiedeafishdeafismdeaflydeaflympian

Related forms inaudible

Etymology

From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.

*dʰewbʰ- Proto-Indo-European def Middle English dēaf Old English *daub Proto-West Germanic *daubaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Senses & Perception

# deaf

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb, adj
**IPA (US):** dɛf
**Frequency rank:** 3513

## Meanings
1. Unable to hear, either completely or partly.
2. Unwilling to listen to something.

## Examples
- He has been deaf since he was a child.
- They were deaf to all our warnings.

## Synonyms
- hearing-impaired

## Derived Forms
- beat-deaf
- deaf-blind
- deaf-blindness
- deaf-mute
- deaf-muteness
- deafblind
- deafen
- deafie
- deafish
- deafism
- deafly
- deaflympian

## Related Forms
- inaudible

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *dʰewbʰ-
- Root: def
- Root: dēaf
- Root: *daub
- Root: *daubaz

## Etymology
From Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf.

## AI Etymology
deaf comes from Middle English def, deef, from Old English dēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *daub, from Proto-Germanic *daubaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, smoke, darken, obscure”). Cognate with Ancient Greek τυφλός (tuphlós, “blind”). See also dumb. Doublet of daff, dof, and dowf. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-, Middle English def, Old English dēaf, Proto-West Germanic *daub, Proto-Germanic *daubaz. Current senses include Unable to hear, either completely or partly and Unwilling to listen to something. English relatives and later formations include beat-deaf, deaf-blind, deaf-blindness, inaudible.

## Topics
- Senses & Perception

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deaf

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