Corf

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A basket used to transport coal, fish, or other goods, especially in mines or aboard vessels
2. A container woven from wood or wickerwork designed to carry heavy loads like coal in underground shafts
3. A receptacle shaped like a basket employed for conveying coal, fish, or freight in mining and maritime work

Etymology: "Corf" is a Middle English borrowing from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch "korf," meaning a basket. Its deeper ancestor is the Proto-West Germanic "*korb," the same root that gave English its word "basket" and Dutch its word for basket today, so the two forms are close kin rather than distant cousins. In English, "corf" was used for a basket, most often one for carrying or for holding things like fish or coal. Its meaning stayed fairly literal, so it is a plain example of a Germanic word arriving with the trade and labour of the late medieval period, when Low Countries and North Sea commerce brought many such terms across the water.

Synonyms: basket, hamper