lofe

• loave, loff

From Middle English lofe, lof (“praise, price”), from Old English lof (“praise, glory, repute, song of praise, hymn”), from Proto-Germanic *lubą (“praise, permission”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, like”). Cognate with Scots lofe (“an offer”), North Frisian lof (“praise”), Dutch lof (“praise, glory, commendation”), German Lob (“praise, commendation, tribute”), Icelandic lof (“praise”).

lofe (plural lofes)

1. (West Midlands and Northern England) An offer; choice; an opportunity; chance.
   • 1869, Gibson, Alexander Craig, The Folk-Speech of Cumberland and Some Districts Adjacent‎, page 212:

     "Yance I hed t' lofe an' I'd luck to say no, an' I niver hed t' lofe ageàn."—Said by an elderly spinster.

From Middle English loven, from Old English lofian (“to praise, exalt, appraise, value, set a price on”), from Proto-Germanic *lubōną (“to praise, vow”), from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to love, like”). Cognate with Scots lofe, love (“to offer at a price”), North Frisian lowe (“to vow, swear”), Dutch loven (“to praise, bless, commend”), German loben (“to praise, laud, commend”), Icelandic lofa (“to promise, praise, allow”). More at love (Etymology 3).

lofe (third-person singular simple present lofes, present participle lofing, simple past and past participle lofed)

1. (transitive, Britain dialectal) To praise; commend.
2. (transitive, West Midlands and Northern England) To offer; offer at a price; expose for sale.
   • 1899, Dickinson, William; Prevost, Edward William; Brown, Simon Dickson, A Glossary of the Words and Phrases Pertaining to the Dialect of Cumberland‎, page 202:

     Ah'd lofed him it an' he wadn't tak 't.

• Wright, Joseph (1902) The English Dialect Dictionary‎, volume 3, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 640

• floe

• Homophones: lofent, lofes

lofe

1. first-person singular present indicative of lofer
2. third-person singular present indicative of lofer
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of lofer
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of lofer
5. second-person singular imperative of lofer

lofe (plural lofes)

1. Alternative spelling of lof
   • c. 1175, “Dominica in Quadragessima”, in Belfour, Algernon Ikey, editor, Twelfth Century Homilies in MS Bodley 343‎, published 1909, lines 12–14, page 48:

     Æt þam ytemestan, broðor mine, hér æfter fyliȝæð þeo mongung be þare ælmessæn lofe.

     In conclusion, my brethren, after this comes an exhortation in praise of charity.