luff.
The vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind.
Meaning & usage
The vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind.
By easing the halyard, the luff of the sail was made to sag to leeward.
The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.
The roundest part of a ship's bow.
The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.
Where this word comes from
From Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch loef. Ellert Ekwall's Shakspere's Vocabulary: its etymological elements (1903) related this verb and loof instead to the East Frisian verb lofen, lufen, which would make it cognate to the French term lover.
To shake due to being trimmed improperly.
To bring the ship's head up closer to the wind. (Alternatively luff up)
to let out (a sail) so that it luffs.
To alter the vertical angle of the jib of a crane so as to bring it level with the load.
Where this word comes from
From Old French lof. Collins English Dictionary states that this word is ultimately derived from Middle Dutch loef. Ellert Ekwall's Shakspere's Vocabulary: its etymological elements (1903) related this verb and loof instead to the East Frisian verb lofen, lufen, which would make it cognate to the French term lover.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.