golf

golf

2. Alternative letter-case form of Golf of the ICAO/NATO radiotelephony alphabet.

The word is first known in English from the 17th century as a borrowing from Middle Scots golf, gouff. Although the etymology is uncertain, the most likely origin is that it comes from the Middle Dutch colve, colf (“club”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kulbaz (“club”), related to German Kolben (“piston, rod”), Swedish kolv (“piston, rod”), Old English clopp (“rock; cliff”), English kelp.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɡɒlf/
  • (Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /ɡɒf/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɡɑlf/, /ɡɔlf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  • (New England) IPA^(key): /ɡɒf/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ɡɔlf/, /ɡolf/
• Rhymes: -ɒlf

golf (uncountable)

2. (sports) A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes.
   • 2017 October 16, Adam Jourdan, Matt Miller, “In the rough - China closes Wanda golf courses in chilly northeast”, in Himani Sarkar, editor, Reuters‎^[1], archived from the original on 18 March 2023, Business News:

     In January, China’s state planner said it had ordered the closure of more than 100 golf courses in a multi-year campaign launched in 2011 to tackle illegal development in the sector.
     Golf has also been added to a list of Communist Party disciplinary violations, and is often cited in cases of graft.

4. (international standards) Alternative letter-case form of Golf from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.

• Michael Quinion (2004), “Golf”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.

golf (third-person singular simple present golfs, present participle golfing, simple past and past participle golfed)

1. (intransitive) To play the game of golf.
   • 1894, Rudyard Kipling, The Day's Work/An Error in the Fourth Dimension:

     Last mystery of all, he learned to golf.

2. (computing) To write something in as few characters as possible (e.g. in code golf, regex golf)

• GLOF, flog

golf m (uncountable)

1. (sports) golf

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈɡolf]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Inherited from Vulgar Latin or Late Latin colfus, colphus, culfus, alteration of colpus, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos).

golf m (plural golfs)

1. gulf

Borrowed from English golf.

golf m (uncountable)

1. golf

• golfista

• golfístic

• “golf”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡolf]

Borrowed from English golf.^[1]

golf m inan

1. golf (a ball game)

Borrowed from German Golf.^[2]

golf m inan

1. bay, gulf

• “golf”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “golf”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “golf”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

From English golf.

golf c (singular definite golfen, not used in plural form)

1. golf (a game played with a golf club and golf ball)

From Italian golfo and French golfe.

golf c (singular definite golfen, plural indefinite golfer)

1. a gulf (large bay)

• Golfstrømmen
• den Mexicanske Golf

From Middle Dutch gelve, from Proto-Germanic *gelbaną. Influenced by Late Latin colfus, from Ancient Greek κόλπος (kólpos).

• IPA^(key): /ɣɔlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: golf
• Rhymes: -ɔlf

golf f (plural golven, diminutive golfje n)

1. wave
2. (physics) wave
3. (geography) gulf

• (wave): waag

• → Manado Malay: holven

golf

1. inflection of golven:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

Borrowed from English golf.

• IPA^(key): /ɣɔlf/, /ɡɔlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: golf
• Rhymes: -ɔlf

golf n (uncountable, no diminutive)

1. golf

golf

1. inflection of golfen:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative

• “golf” in Van Dale Onlinewoordenboek, Van Dale Lexicografie, 2007.

From English golf, from Middle Scots golf.

golf n (genitive singular golfs, uncountable)

1. golf

• golfbóltur m
• golfbreyt f
• golfleikari m
• golfvøllur m

From English golf.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡolf/, [ˈɡo̞lf]
• Rhymes: -olf
• Syllabification^(key): golf
• Hyphenation^(key): golf

golf

1. golf

• kolopallo

• “golf”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

• IPA^(key): /ɡɔlf/
• Homophone: golfe

golf m (invariable)

1. golf
2. golf course

• “golf”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• Rhymes: -ɔlf
• Hyphenation: golf

golf m (uncountable)

1. golf

• “golf”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

golf

1. singular imperative of golfen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of golfen

From English golf.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈɡolf]
• Hyphenation: golf
• Rhymes: -olf

golf (usually uncountable, plural golfok)

1. golf

• golf in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Borrowed from English golf.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔlv/
• Rhymes: -ɔlv

golf n (genitive singular golfs, no plural)

1. golf

• golfari m (“golfer”)
• golfbíll m (“golf cart”)
• golfvöllur m (“golf course”)

Internationalism, unadapted borrowing from English golf, most likely from Middle Dutch colve, colf (“club”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kulbaz (“club”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡol(ĕ)f/
• Hyphenation: golf

golf (plural golf-golf)

1. (sports) golf: A ball game played by individuals competing against one another in which the object is to hit a ball into each of a series of (usually 18 or nine) holes in the minimum number of strokes

• “golf”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Unadapted borrowing from English golf.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔlf/
• Rhymes: -ɔlf
• Hyphenation: gòlf

golf m (invariable)

1. golf
2. jumper, cardigan

From English golf.

golf m (definite singular golfen, uncountable)

1. golf (a game played with a golf club and golf ball)

From Italian golfo and French golfe.

golf m (definite singular golfen, indefinite plural golfer, definite plural golfene)

1. a gulf (large bay)

• Golfstrømmen
• Mexicogolfen

• “golf” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From English golf.

golf m (definite singular golfen, uncountable)

1. golf (a game played with a golf club and golf ball)

• golfbane
• golfklubb
• golfkølle

From Italian golfo and French golfe.

golf m (definite singular golfen, indefinite plural golfar, definite plural golfane)

1. a gulf (large bay)

• Mexicogolfen

• “golf” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡɔlf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔlf
• Syllabification: golf
• Homophone: Golf

Borrowed from English golf.

golf m inan

1. (golf) golf (ball game)

Uncertain. Perhaps borrowed from French col roulé.

golf m inan (diminutive golfik)

1. (clothing) turtleneck, polo-neck

Borrowed from German Volkswagen Golf, a genericized trademark.

golf m animal

1. Volkswagen Golf car

Borrowed from French golf.

golf m inan

1. (obsolete) gulf (deep inlet of the sea almost surrounded by land)

   Synonyms: odnoga morska, zatoka

• “golf”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “golf”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[4] (in Polish)
• golf in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego

golf m (uncountable)

1. alternative spelling of golfe

Borrowed from French golfe.

golf n (plural golfuri)

1. gulf

Borrowed from English golf.

golf n (uncountable)

1. golf

Borrowed from English golf.

gȍlf m inan (Cyrillic spelling го̏лф)

1. golf

• golfaš
• golfer

Borrowed from English gulf.

gȍlf m inan (Cyrillic spelling го̏лф)

1. (rare) gulf

Borrowed from English golf.

golf m inan (relational adjective golfový or golfský, diminutive golfík)

1. golf
2. (geography) bay, gulf

• “golf”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Borrowed from English golf.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɡolf/ [ˈɡolf]
• Rhymes: -olf
• Syllabification: golf

golf m (uncountable)

1. golf
   • 2013 May 16, Juan Andrés Muñoz, “Tips de golf: ¿Cómo se le da trayectoria a la pelota?”, in CNN en Español‎^[5]:

     En el golf hay muchas formas de pegarle a la pelota.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

• “golf”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

golf c

1. (sports) golf
2. (geography) a gulf (very large bay)

   Mexikanska golfen

   The Gulf of Mexico

3. obsolete spelling of golv

Vik is used instead of golf in some names, for example in "Persiska viken" (the Persian Gulf).

• Mexikanska golfen
• golfbana
• golfklubb
• golfklubba
• minigolf

• golfa
• golfare

• bukt
• bunker
• green
• ruff
• vik

• “golf”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “golf”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “golf”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• Svensk MeSH

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [ɣon˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [ɣoŋ˧˧]
• (Saigon) IPA^(key): [ɣoŋ˧˧]
• Phonetic spelling: gôn

golf

1. golf

Borrowed from Dutch golf.

golf c (plural golven, diminutive golfke)

1. wave (motion in a liquid)

   Synonym: weach

2. wave, gush
3. wave (in any other medium or field)

   Synonym: weach

4. (in the diminutive) tilde

• “golf (I)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011