Wordorigins.org Discussion Forums | Daft
In early Middle English daffte , corresponding to Old English gedæfte mild, gentle, meek < Old Germanic *gadaftjo-z , < gadafti vbl. n. from stem daƀ-, in Gothic gadaban to become, be fit, Old English past participle gedafen becoming, fit, suitable. The æ here is apparently for umlaut ę before ft , st , which explains the two-fold Middle English development daft and deft . The primary meaning of the adj. must have been ‘becoming, fit’; compare the adv. gedæftlíce fitly, suitably, seasonably, and the vb. gedæftan to make fit or ready, to prepare; from ‘fit, ready, apt’ came the general later sense of deft ; from ‘becoming, decens ’ as said of persons, came that of ‘meek, mild, innocent’, and from ‘innocent, inoffensive’ apparently that of ‘irrational’ said of beasts, and of ‘silly, foolish, deficient in sense’ as said of persons: compare a common sense of ‘innocent’, and the sense-history of silly adj., n., and adv. See also deft adj.
