*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of chafe

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti Proto-Italic *kalēō Latin caleō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti

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In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗
verb

To excite heat in by friction; to rub in order to stimulate and make warm. · To excite passion or anger in; to fret; to irritate. · To fret and wear by rubbing. · To rub; to come together so as to wear by rubbing; to wear by friction.

noun

Heat excited by friction. · Injury or wear caused by friction. · Vexation; irritation of mind; rage.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁- Proto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti Proto-Indo-European *ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti Proto-Italic *kalēō Latin caleō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Latin calefaciō Classical Latin calfaciō Vulgar Latin *calfō Old French chauferbor. Middle English chaufen English chafe Inherited from Middle English chaufen (“to warm”), borrowed from Old French chaufer (modern French chauffer), from Latin calefacere, calfacere (“to make warm”), from calere (“to be warm”) + facere (“to make”). See caldron.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

This page abbreviates 2 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:chaufen",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti\nProto-Indo-European *ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti\nProto-Italic *kalēō\nLatin caleō\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-\nProto-Indo-European *-yéti\nProto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti\nProto-Italic *θakjō\nProto-Italic *fakjō\nLatin faciō\nLatin calefaciō\nClassical Latin calfaciō\nVulgar Latin *calfō\nOld French chauferbor.\nMiddle English chaufen\nEnglish chafe\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"to warm\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*ḱleh₁-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-éh₁ti\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*kalēō\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"caleō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" }, { \"gloss\" : \"to make\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"to make\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*θakjō\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*dʰh₁kyéti\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"do\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*dʰeh₁-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*dʰeh₁k-\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-yéti\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Italic\", \"term\" : \"*fakjō\", \"lang\" : \"itc-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"faciō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Latin\", \"term\" : \"calefaciō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Classical Latin\", \"term\" : \"calfaciō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-cla\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Vulgar Latin\", \"term\" : \"*calfō\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"la-vul\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old French\", \"term\" : \"chaufer\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"fro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"chaufen\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"chafe\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"chafe\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "yesno",
      "args": {
        "1": "",
        "2": "i",
        "3": "I"
      },
      "expansion": "I"
    },
    {
      "name": "glossary",
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "chaufen",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to warm",
        "lit": "",
        "pos": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": "",
        "id": "",
        "sc": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English chaufen (“to warm”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh+",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "chaufen",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to warm"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Middle English chaufen (“to warm”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "chaufer",
        "ng": "modern French <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"fr\">chauffer</i>"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French chaufer (modern French chauffer)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la",
        "3": "calefaciō",
        "4": "calefacere"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin calefacere"
    },
    {
      "name": "etymon",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:chaufen",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *ḱleh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₁ti\nProto-Indo-European *ḱl̥h₁éh₁yeti\nProto-Italic *kalēō\nLatin caleō\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-\nProto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-\nProto-Indo-European *-yéti\nProto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti\nProto-Italic *θakjō\nProto-Italic *fakjō\nLatin faciō\nLatin calefaciō\nClassical Latin calfaciō\nVulgar Latin *calfō\nOld French chauferbor.\nMiddle English chaufen\nEnglish chafe"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*ḱleh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/ḱleh₁-"
    ],
    [
      "*-éh₁ti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-éh₁ti"
    ],
    [
      "*kalēō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/kalēō"
    ],
    [
      "caleō",
      "caleo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰeh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰeh₁-#Proto-Indo-European:_do"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰeh₁k-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰeh₁k-"
    ],
    [
      "*-yéti",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-yéti"
    ],
    [
      "*fakjō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/fakjō#Proto-Italic:_to_make"
    ],
    [
      "faciō",
      "facio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "calefaciō",
      "calefacio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "calfaciō",
      "calfacio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "*calfō",
      "Reconstruction:Latin/calfo"
    ],
    [
      "chaufer",
      "chaufer#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "chaufen",
      "chaufen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "chaufen",
      "chaufen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "chaufer",
      "chaufer#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "chauffer",
      "chauffer#French"
    ],
    [
      "calefacere",
      "calefacio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "calfacere",
      "calfacio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "calere",
      "caleo#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "facere",
      "facio#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "caldron",
      "caldron#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To excite heat in by friction; to rub in order to stimulate and make warm.",
        "To excite passion or anger in; to fret; to irritate.",
        "To fret and wear by rubbing.",
        "To rub; to come together so as to wear by rubbing; to wear by friction."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "figuratively",
        "intransitive"
      ],
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      "rawRecordSha256": "2127dbda06b93ed6183f106da7d14d21c240258e038069ba9c84a5133421599c",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 235391
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Heat excited by friction.",
        "Injury or wear caused by friction.",
        "Vexation; irritation of mind; rage."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "archaic"
      ],
      "recordId": "60e736f76156b64103e2ec932f6f0599b7fcb96ad5b8480aed14896ad9c95bde",
      "rawRecordSha256": "7c8c288e6f7adf69c18cdb769db79e9dc98179717ce1bd8b6b218356a944a72f",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 235390
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 2,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for chafe →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Y2hhZmU