Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wharf

/ˈwɔɹf/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.48 in modern English

Syllables: wharf
IPA: /ˈwɔɹf/

14

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

1

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An artificial landing place for ships on a riverbank or shore.

noun

Any bank of a river or shore of a sea.

Obsolete

verb

To secure by a wharf.

Transitive verb

verb

To place on a wharf.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Commerce pushes its wharves into the sea."
"Out upon the wharfs they came, / Knight and burgher, lord and dame, / And round the prow they read her name, / The Lady of Shalott."
"the fat weed that roots itself in ease on Lethe wharf"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną Proto-West Germanic *hwerban Old English hweorfan Middle English wharf English wharf From Middle English wharf, from Old English hwearf (“heap, embankment, wharf”); related to Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), Old Saxon hwerf (whence German Werft and Warft), Dutch werf, Old High German hwarb (“a turn”), hwerban (“to turn”), Old Norse hvarf (“circle”), and Ancient Greek καρπός (karpós, “wrist”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: wharf, hwearf

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈwɔɹf/
British English: /ˈwɔːf/

Usage

Inflected Forms

wharves (plural) wharfs (plural) wharfs (present, singular) wharfing (participle, present) wharfed (participle, past) wharfed (past)

Derived Forms

wharfage wharfie wharfinger wharfless

Phrases

marginal wharfon Red Wharf Bay wharf borer wharf crab wharf rat wharf roach

Synonyms

dock quay pier wharfage moor berth

Rhymes With

dwarf morph orf dorf warf dorff korff korf -morph whorf swarf corf

Questions

How do you pronounce wharf?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈwɔɹf/.
What does wharf mean?: An artificial landing place for ships on a riverbank or shore.
Where does wharf come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce wharf

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “wharf”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈwɔɹf/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “wharf”.
Repeat and practice — Say “wharf” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.