Graf

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A visual representation or drawing used to present information clearly and effectively
2. a brief or informal note, often conveying a specific message or idea
3. an excerpt or segment of text, especially one that is set apart for emphasis or clarity

Etymology: The word "graf" in the sense of a brief note is a clipping of "paragraph," respelled phonetically. Speakers shortened "paragraph" to a quick spoken form and then wrote it the way it sounded, so a word that began as a printing term for a block of text lost most of its letters on its way to meaning a short message. The spelling "graf" is also identical to German "Graf," meaning "count," the title of a European nobleman, which descends from Old High German "grāf," an official or steward. The two are unrelated in sense, and English speakers who see the form probably do not connect it to the noble title at all. The overlap is pure coincidence of spelling. Within the family of forms that share this root, "graaf" is a related Dutch spelling of the same nobleman's title, and "grave" is another English word descended from it, so these are doublets: words from one origin that came into English by different routes and took on different meanings.

Synonyms: graft, insertion, transplant