luft

See also: Luft, lüft, and ľuft

English

Etymology

From German Luft (“air”). Doublet of lift and loft.

Noun

luft (plural lufts)

1. (chess) A piece moved in front of a king to prevent a back-rank mate.

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from German Luft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈluft]

Noun

luft m inan

1. (informal) air

   Synonym: vzduch

Declension

Declension of luft (hard masculine inanimate)

	singular	plural
nominative	luft	lufty
genitive	luftu	luftů
dative	luftu	luftům
accusative	luft	lufty
vocative	lufte	lufty
locative	luftě, luftu	luftech
instrumental	luftem	lufty

Further reading

• “luft”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “luft”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German luft, lucht (“air, smell”), from Old Saxon luft, from Proto-West Germanic *luftu. Probably influenced by German Luft (“air”). It is a cognate of Danish loft (“attic”) and Danish lugt (“smell”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈlɔfd]

Noun

luft c (definite singular luften) (uncountable)

1. air

Derived terms

• luftmodstand
• luftskib

Faroese

Etymology

From Middle Low German lucht, from Old Saxon luft, from Proto-West Germanic *luftu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [lʊft]

Noun

luft f (genitive singular luftar, uncountable)

1. air
2. atmosphere, sky

Declension

f2s	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	luft	luftin
accusative	luft	luftina
dative	luft	luftini
genitive	luftar	luftarinnar

Related terms

• skýggj
• tora
• snarljós

Middle English

Alternative forms

• lift(e), left(e), lüfte

Etymology

From Old English lyft (“air, atmosphere, firmament”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“air, upper region”). More at lift. Doublet of lofte.

Noun

lüft

1. air
2. atmosphere
3. heavens, sky, firmament

Descendants

• English: lift (“the sky, atmosphere”)
• Scots: lift, luft

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

luft f or m (definite singular lufta or luften, uncountable)

1. air

Derived terms

• fjelluft, fjell-luft
• friluft
• luftangrep
• luftboble
• luftbåren
• luftdyktig
• luftfart
• luftfartøy
• luftfilter
• luftforurensning
• luftfoto
• luftfuktighet
• luftfylt
• lufthavn
• luftig
• luftinntak
• luftkondisjonering
• luftmasse
• luftmotstand
• luftrenser
• luftrom
• luftrør
• luftsirkulasjon
• luftskip
• luftslange
• luftstrøm
• luftstøtte
• lufttemperatur
• lufttett
• lufttrykk
• luftvei
• varmluft

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Middle Low German lucht.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lʉft/

Noun

luft f (definite singular lufta, uncountable)

1. air

Derived terms

• fjelluft, fjell-luft
• friluft
• luftangrep
• luftboble
• luftdyktig
• luftfart
• luftfartøy
• luftfilter
• luftfylt
• lufthamn
• luftig
• luftinntak
• luftkondisjonering
• luftmasse
• luftmotstand
• luftrom
• luftsirkulasjon
• luftskip
• luftslange
• luftstøtte
• lufttemperatur
• lufttett
• lufttrykk
• varmluft

References

• “luft” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

• lufte

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz (“air, upper region”).

Noun

luft

1. air
2. the sky

Descendants

• North Frisian: loft (“the sky”)

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Luft. Doublet of lift and loft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluft/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uft
• Syllabification: luft

Noun

luft m inan (diminutive lufcik)

1. (archaic, architecture) pipe in a stove, chimney, or kitchen that carries away smoke
2. (colloquial, Poznań) air

   Synonym: powietrze

Declension

Declension of luft

	singular
nominative	luft
genitive	luftu
dative	luftowi
accusative	luft
instrumental	luftem
locative	lufcie
vocative	lufcie

Derived terms

adjective

• do luftu

verb

• luftować impf

Further reading

• luft in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• luft in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Scots

Etymology

From Middle English luft, lufte, from Old English lyft (“the lower sky (as opposed to the upper atmosphere, or heavens), air, atmosphere”), from Proto-West Germanic *luftu, from Proto-Germanic *luftuz.

Noun

luft (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of lift
   • 1898, David Hay Fleming, Mary Queen of Scots (in English), page 437:

     Bothwell told Sir James Melville that he saw the strangest accident that ever chancit, to wit the powder cam out of the luft [i.e. the sky], and had brunt the Kingis house, and himself found lying dead a litle distance from the house under a tre;

   • 1977, Douglas Young, Clara Young, David D. Murison, A Clear Voice: Douglas Young, Poet and Polymath (in English), page 39:

     Gesserant sails on a skinklan frith, gowd-yalla luft and blue o the sea

   • 1996, Review of Scottish Culture - Issues 10-12 (in English), page 101:

     […] kind of phonetic spelling which resembles Elphinston's recommendations for an orthographic reform as issued in the eighteenth century, so his proverbs and sayings have to be practically translated: Gin dhe luft wuz tay faw, dhe laivruks wud bee smuird – if the sky were to fall, the larks would be smothered.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

From German Luft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lûft/

Noun

lȕft m (Cyrillic spelling лу̏фт)

1. (colloquial) air

   Synonyms: vàzdūh, zrȃk

References

• “luft”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Silesian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Luft.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈluft/
• Rhymes: -uft
• Syllabification: luft

Noun

luft m inan

1. air

   Synonym: powietrze

Further reading

• luft in dykcjonorz.eu
• luft in silling.org

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowing from German Luft.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

luft c

1. air

   att andas luft

   to breathe air

   uppe i luften

   up in the air

Declension

Declension of luft

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	luft	lufts
	definite	luften	luftens
plural	indefinite	—	—
	definite	—	—

Derived terms

• flyga i luften (“to explode, to blow up”)
• bygga luftslott (“to build castles in the air”)
• frilufts-
• luftherravälde
• lufthunger
• luftmotstånd
• luftskepp
• luftslott
• luftvärn
• luftöverlägsenhet
• tagen ur luften (“made up”, literally “taken out of the air”)

Related terms

• lufta

References

• luft in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• luft in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• luft in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• fult