heahfore

Etymology
This first element of this word is customarily identified with, beginning with Franciscus Junius's 17th-century Etymologicum Anglicanum; the remainder is now usually held to be from either  or , though the latter is less likely.

Liberman instead suggests that this compound is from +, However, this etymology fails to explain the phonological shape of this word (a long vowel is required by Middle English forms in , while  should become palatalised , which would stymie breaking of  and devoicing of  . Additionally, this palatalisation would create an open syllable, resulting in  being voiced to ), while his putative suffix   lacks a clear etymology and is not securely attested ( is simply Middle English ; the word originally referred to a group of young eels). Furthermore, Liberman's semantic objections to the traditional etymology do not hold water. can mean "tall", and already means "to live (in a specified way)"; the word would simply mean "one who lives (while being) tall", originally being a generic term for any adult cow.

Noun

 * 1) heifer