scræf

• sċreaf, sċref, sċraf

From Proto-Germanic *skrabą (“cave, cavern, pit”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off”), and thereby cognate with Latin scrobis (“ditch, trench”), and related to Old English scrapian (“to scrape”), screpan (“to scratch”).

• IPA^(key): /ʃræf/

sċræf n

1. cave, cavern
   • Old English Heptateuch, Genesis 19:30

     Loth þā ne dorste lenġ wunian on Segor ac ferde mid hys twām dohtrum afirht tō þām munte, and þār on ānum sċræfe ealle þrēo wunedon

     Frightened, Lot dared not stay in Zoar, but went with his two daughters to the mountain, and there all three of them lived in a cave.

2. miserable dwelling: den, hell

Strong a-stem:

• dūnsċræf (“mountain-cavern”)
• eorþsċræf (“earth-cavern”)
• stānsċræf (“rock-cavern”)
• wītesċræf (“den of torment, hell”)

• Middle English: scræf (early)