graft

graft
\ \ [15] Graft, in its original sense ‘plant part inserted into a living plant’ (the application to skin and other animal tissue is a late 19thcentury development), came from its resemblance in shape to a pencil. Greek graphíon meant ‘writing implement, stylus’ (it was a derivative of the verb grápheinwrite’, source of English graphic). It passed via Latin graphium into Old French as grafe, gradually changing in its precise application with the advance of writing technology. By the time it reached Old French it denoted a ‘pencil’, and it was then that the resemblance to two artificially united plant stems was noted and the metaphor born. English took the word over as graff in the late 14th century (it actually survived in that form into the 19th century), and within a hundred years had added a -t to the end to give modern English graft. Graftcorruption’, first recorded in mid 19th-century America, may be the same word, perhaps derived from the notion of a graft as an ‘insertion’, hence ‘something extra, on the side’. Grafthard work’ [19], on the other hand, is probably a different word, perhaps based on the English dialect verb graftdig’, an alteration of gravedig’.
\ \ Cf.GRAPHIC

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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Synonyms:
(inserted in another tree), , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Graft — may refer to:*Grafting, where the tissues of one plant are affixed to the tissues of another *Medical grafting, a surgical procedure to transplant tissue without a blood supply *Skin grafting, a type of organ transplant procedure involving skin… …   Wikipedia

  • graft — [graft, gräft] n. [with unhistoric t, for earlier graff < ME graffe < OFr, a pencil < L graphium < Gr grapheion, stylus (see GRAPHIC): from resemblance of the scion to a pointed pencil] 1. a) a shoot or bud of one plant or tree… …   English World dictionary

  • Graft — ist ein altes Wort für einen Wassergraben, Gräfte die Bezeichnung für Transplantat in der medizinischen Fachsprache Graft heißt ein Teil des Dorfes Graft De Rijp die Graft Gesellschaft von Architekten ein im 14. Jahrhundert angelegter Wasserlauf… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Graft — Graft, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Grafted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Grafting}.] [F. greffer. See {Graft}, n.] 1. To insert (a graft) in a branch or stem of another tree; to propagate by insertion in another stock; also, to insert a graft upon. [Formerly… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • graft — Ⅰ. graft [1] ► NOUN 1) a shoot from one plant inserted into a slit cut into another to form a new growth. 2) a piece of living bodily tissue that is transplanted surgically to replace diseased or damaged tissue. 3) an operation in which tissue is …   English terms dictionary

  • graft — I noun blackmail, bribery, corruption, exploitation, fraudulent income, hush money, illegal profit, illicit profit, illicit revenue, inserere, kickback, money illegally acquired, political corruption, profiteering, property illegally acquired,… …   Law dictionary

  • -graft- — [engl. graft = pfropfen]: in der Nomenklatur von Polymeren ein kursiv gesetztes Strukturinfix zur Beschreibung von ↑ Pfropfcopolymeren, bei denen auf eine (zuerst genannte) Hauptkette Seitenketten aufgepfropft sind, z. B. Polybutadien graft… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Graft — Graft, n. [Prob. orig. so called because illegitimate or improper profit was looked upon as a graft, or sort of excrescence, on a legitimate business undertaking, in distinction from its natural proper development.] 1. Acquisition of money,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Graft — Graft, n. [OE. graff, F. greffe, originally the same word as OF. grafe pencil, L. graphium, Gr. ?, ?, fr. ? to write; prob. akin to E. carve. So named from the resemblance of a scion or shoot to a pointed pencil. Cf. {Graphic}, {Grammar.}] (a) A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Graft —   die, / en, Gräfte die, / , mit Wasser gefüllter Umfriedungsgraben, v. a. bei westfälischen Wasserschlössern. * * * Grạft, die; , en [mhd., ahd. graft, zu ↑graben; vgl. ↑Gracht] (Fachspr., sonst veraltet): Wassergraben um ein Schloss o. Ä.;… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • graft — [n1] transplant bud*, hybridization, implant, jointure, scion, shoot, slip, splice, sprout, union; concepts 113,257 graft [n2] payoff for fraud bribe, corruption, gain, hat*, hush money*, juice*, money, money under the table*, pay, payola*,… …   New thesaurus

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