pelf

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pelf

/pɛlf/ US, UK

Rhymes with -ɛlf

Where it comes from

From Late Middle English pelf, pelfe (“stolen goods, booty, spoil; forfeited property; money, riches; property; valuable object”), possibly from Anglo-Norman pelf (a variant of pelfre (“booty, loot”)) and Old French peufre (“frippery; rubbish”); further etymology uncertain, possibly a metathesis of Old French felpe, ferpe, frepe (“a rag”). The English word is perhaps related to Late Latin pelfa, pelfra, pelfrum (“forfeited or stolen goods”), Middle French peuffe and French peufe, peuffe (“old clothes; rubbish”) (Normandy), and pilfer.

noun pelfs

dated, derogatory, uncountable Money, riches; gain, especially when dishonestly acquired; lucre, mammon. Raph. Sirra Hammon Hammon, dost thou thinke a shooe-maker is so base, to be a bawd to his own wife for cõmodity! take thy gold, choake with it: were I not lame, I would make thee eate thy words. Firke. A shoomaker sell his flesh and blood, oh indignitie! Hodg. Sirra, take up your pelfe, and be packi
Similar: accession, acquirement, acquisition, acquist, attainment, gain, gaining, increase, obtainment, boodle, booty, fang
dated, uncountable Rubbish, trash; specifically (UK, dialectal) refuse from plants. Now for women, in ſtead of laborious ſtudies, they have curious, needleworkes, Cut-workes, ſpinning, bone-lace, and many prettie deviſes of their owne making, to adorne their houſes, […] Which to her gueſts ſhe ſhews, with all her pelfe, / Thus far my maides, but this I did my ſelf.
Similar: cultch, crap, debris, dreck, drek, garbage, gash, junk, litter, pelf, piece of crap, piece of garbage
uncountable Dust; fluff.
Yorkshire, countable, derogatory A contemptible or useless person.
Similar: absolute zero, assbucket, asswipe, badling, blatherskite, bugger, carrion, cipher, cockstain, crumb, custron, dandiprat · Opposite: baron, big cheese, big enchilada, big gun, big kahuna, big man, big name, big noise, big shot, bigwig, big wheel, boss

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MLA

"pelf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/pelf. Accessed 5 Nov. 2026.

APA

pelf. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/pelf

Chicago

"pelf." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 5, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/pelf.

BibTeX

@misc{pelf_2026,
  title = {pelf},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/pelf},
  urldate = {2026-11-05}
}