Also 2–7 lofte, 5–6 looft, Sc. loyft, 6 loaft, loffte, 7 laught. [Late OE. loft, a. ON. loft neut., air, sky, upper room (in Icel. written lopt; Sw., Da. loft upper room, garret), cognate with OE. lyft masc., neut., fem.: see LIFT sb.1]
† 1. Air, sky, upper region. Obs.
a. 1000. Hexameron of St. Basil (Norman, 1849), 10. Heo ne lið on nanum ðinge ac on lofte heo stynt.
a. 1175. Cotton Hom., 217. Heo is … loftes leom and all hiscefte ȝimston.
c. 1200. Trin. Coll. Hom., 222. He makeð þe fisses in þe sa, þe fueles on þe lofte.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., 35/55. Huy comen fleo oppe in þe loft ouer þe apostle seint Ieme.
c. 1330. King of Tars, 686. Let seche bi lofte and bi grounde, Yif eny Cristene prisoun mighte be founde.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. I. 88. He is a-counted to þe gospel on grounde and on lofte [1377 aloft].
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 3719. Two iuste goddis, Lyuond in the lofte with lordships in heuyn.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. i. 41. And ever-drizling raine upon the loft.
† 2. Phrases. Obs.
a. On, upon (the) loft: (a) = ALOFT in various senses; (b) in a high voice, loudly.
a. 1100. O. E. Homilies (Napier), in Mod. Lang. Notes (1889), May, 278/2. Þat stænene cweartern stod eall on lofte fram þære eorðan.
a. 1300. K. Horn, 974. Reynild, mi doȝter, Þat sitteþ on þe lofte.
c. 1375. Barbour, Bruce, XIII. 652. And it, that wondir lawch wer ere, Mon lowp on loft in the contrere.
c. 1400. Sowdone Bab., 3250. Therfore thoue shalt be honged on lofte.
c. 1420. Anturs of Arth., 619. Þene his lemmane one loft skrilles and skrikes.
c. 1450. Two Cookery Bks., 78. Couche hem in a faire chargeour, and ley, the partrich on loft.
c. 1470. Golagros & Gaw., 875. Than said he loud vpone loft [etc.].
1508. Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 147. Than all thai leuch apon loft, with laitis full mery.
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot., II. 194. On ane litter, that buir him hie on loft.
a. 1584. Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 362. I luikit vp on loft.
b. By loft: in height.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 45. And ȝit maken it … Bothe as longe and as large bi loft [1393 aloft] & by grounde.
c. Of loft: from above. Also used for ALOFT.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 22143 (Fairf.). Thoner of loft falle sal he gere & trees þrali blomis bere.
a. 1400–50. Alexander, 791*. Ledes hym [the horse] forth of þat loge and þen of-lofte lepys.
d. Over loft = ALOFT.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 6. Midde of the brigge ther was a toure over loft.
3. An upper chamber, an attic; an apartment or chamber in general; spec. (see quot. 1593).
c. 1300. Censor M. 12277–9. In a loft was in þe tun, A child þar kest a-noiþer don, Vte of the loft into þe grund.
c. 1340. Gaw. & Gr. Knt., 1096. Ȝe schal lenge in your lofte, & lyȝe in your ese.
c. 1385. Chaucer, L. G. W., 2706, Hypermnestra. And at the wyndow lep he fro the lofte.
1489. Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. (1877), I. 119. For the mendin of the Thesauraris houss dure and the loyft that byrnt.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xxi. 77. Whan thou were in the highe lofte of thy grete towres thou sawe the see alle troubled.
1568. Grafton, Chron., I. 159. While they were there … sodeynly the Ioystes of the loft fayled, and the people fell downe.
1593. Anc. Rites Durham (Surtees, ed. 2), 86. The mounckes dyd all dyne together at one table, in a place called ye lofte, wch was in ye west end of ye fratree aboue ye seller.
1611. Bible, 1 Kings xvii. 19. He … caried him vp into a loft, where he abode, and laide him vpon his owne bed.
1756. Wesley, Wks., 1872, II. 364. I preached at five in a large loft.
1874. C. Geikie, Life in Woods, ii. 33. One end of my sister’s loft was packed … with part of it [furniture].
b. The apartment over a stable, usually appropriated to hay and straw. (Cf. HAY-LOFT.)
1530. Palsgr., 240/2. Lofte for haye or corne, garnier.
1607. Norden, Surv. Dial., v. 238. Some kind of lofts or hay tallets, as they call them in the west.
1629. S’hertogenbosh, 41. There was slain a Burger … as he was a measuring the Priests Corne in the Laught.
1741. in A. Laing, Lindores Abbey, etc. xiv. (1876), 137, note. [He] carried off the whole slates, lofts, jests and timber thereof.
1816. Scott, Old Mort., V. A wooden bed, placed in a loft half-full of hay.
c. A pigeon-house. Hence, a flock (of pigeons).
1735. J. Moore, Columbarium, 3. Let your Loft be large enough to contain the Number of Pigeons you intend to keep.
1876. Fulton, Bk. Pigeons, 53. We cannot advise any one to breed more than twelve pairs of Carriers in any one loft, however large.
1899. Westm. Gaz., 20 Nov., 8/2. A loft of the best Yorkshire racing pigeons was established at Durban some time ago.
4. A gallery in a church or public room. (Cf. organ-loft, rood-loft.)
1504. Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. (1900), II. 429. The loftis in the chapel of Strivelin.
1562. Turner, Baths, 2 a. Certayn loftes shoulde be bylded ryght over som parte of the fyrst or principall bath.
1573. Satir. Poems Reform., xli. 92. Ȝe Lords also, that dois frequent The loft in Sanct Geills Kirk.
1666. Pepys, Diary, 15 Nov. I also to the ball, and with much ado got up to the loft, where with much trouble I could see very well.
1712–30. G. Guthrie, Memor. (1900), 71. They provided a good large house … and plenished it very well with Pulpit, lofts and Pews.
1849. Thackeray, Pendennis, xv. (1885), 132. The two schools had their pews in the loft on each side of the organ.
1893. Sir A. Gordon, Earl of Aberdeen, 191. The minister … turned to the ‘loft,’ in which ‘my Lord’ was seated.
5. A floor or story in a house. Obs. exc. U.S. ‘one of the upper floors of a warehouse’ (Cent. Dict.).
1526. Tindale, Acts xx. 9. A certayne yonge man named Eutichos … fell doune from the thyrde lofte and was taken vp deed.
1536. Bellenden, Cron. Scot. (1821), II. 476. Ane woman, havand commiseratioun on this Duk, leit meill fall doun throw the loftis of the toure, be quhilkis his life wes certane dayis savit.
1600. Hakluyt, Voy. (1810), III. 439. The houses are very great, and the least of them with one lofte aboue head, and some of two and of three loftes.
a. 1661. Fuller, Worthies, Buckinghamsh., I. 135. Our Roger … finished the ground-room and second loft.
† b. The deck or half-deck of a ship. Obs.
c. 1470. Henry, Wallace, IX. 120. Go wndyr loft. Ibid., 143. Wallace … On the our loft kost him quhar he stud.
† c. The ceiling or flooring of a room. Obs.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., V. vi. 27. All sodainely the bed, where she should lie, By a false trap was let adowne to fall Into a lower roome, and by and by The loft was raysd againe, that no man could it spie.
1603. Owen, Pembrokesh. (1891), 78. This perswadeth me to be one of the causes whie in ould buildinges are found so manye vawtes and soe few loftes, for that in these watrye walles the beames in shorte tyme doe rott & soe the loftes decaye.
† 6. A layer, stage, stratum. Also transf. of the lateral branches of trees at varying heights. Obs.
1535. Coverdale, 1 Esdras vi. 25. With a lofte of tymbre of the same countre, yee with a new loft.
1567. Maplet, Gr. Forest, 81 b. The Elephant espying him sitting on the loft of a tree, runneth [etc.].
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 536. Let them climb vp higher to the vpper boughs, leauing alwaies vpon euery loft or scaffold … one branch of the old hard wood, and another young imp or twig.
1673. Milton, Vacat. Exerc., 42. And hills of Snow and lofts of piled Thunder.
1686. Goad, Celest. Bodies, II. ii. 162. We often times see Clouds as in several Stories, Lofts or Scenes, one over another.
7. Golf. a. Slope (in the head of the club) backwards from the vertical. b. The action of ‘lofting’; also, a lofting hit or stroke.
1887. Sir W. G. Simpson, Golf, 159. A much lofted iron is very difficult to use…. A medium amount of loft is best.
1890. Hutchinson, Golf (Badm. Libr.), 200. For short approaches, there are weighty authorities who assert that the distances are most easily controlled by loft and spin.
8. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 3) loft-floor, -room, -window; loft-dried adj.
1888. Cross & Bevan, Paper-making, 145. They are then sized, if required, by dipping them into a solution of gelatine: again slightly pressed, and hung up on lines or poles to dry. Such paper is called *loft-dried.
1419. Mem. Ripon (Surtees), III. 147. In grundwallyng et emend. unius *loftflore et alios defectus.
1852. Dickens, Bleak H., xxxi. A bed in the wholesome *loft-room by the stable.
a. 1600. in Evergreen (1761), I. 191. The Ladys lukit frae their *loft Windows, God bring our Men weil back again.
