pelf

Meaning

Noun

• Money, riches; gain, especially when dishonestly acquired; lucre, mammon.
• Rubbish, trash; specifically refuse from plants.
• Dust; fluff.
• A contemptible or useless person.

Origin

• From Late Middle English pelf, pelfe, possibly from Anglo-Norman pelf (a variant of pelfre) and Old French peufre; further etymology uncertain, possibly a metathesis of Old French felpe, ferpe, frepe. The English word is perhaps related to Late Latin pelfa, pelfra, pelfrum, Middle French peuffe and French peufe, peuffe , and pilfer.