Etymograph

English

golf

Golf comes from Middle Scots golf, probably from Middle Dutch colf ‘club’.

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500colf1‘club’uncertain
  2. Middle Scotsmoderngolf1
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1894golf1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English golf
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1894, Rudyard Kipling: “Last mystery of all, he learned to golf.”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500colfWiktionary, English golf‘club’uncertain
  2. Middle ScotsmoderngolfWiktionary, English golf
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1894golfWiktionary, English golf. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1894, Rudyard Kipling: “Last mystery of all, he learned to golf.”

first attested The word is first known in English from the 17th century as a borrowing from Middle Scots golf, gouff (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

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.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun 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.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “golf”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Middle Dutch colf / golf