From the Oxford English Dictionary(as paraphrased by Wombat Woman):
Nef
1. The nave of a church.
2. See quotes. (One of the quotes refers to a nef as a vessel of silver which contained the salt cellar of the prince or great lord.)
3. An incense-boat.
4. Nef, an obsolete form of 'neif'.
Non paraphrased(special thanks to Prodigy69):
1. The nave of a church. Also attrib. Obs.
1687 A. LOVELL tr. Thevenot's Trav. I. 187 The Church is very spacious, the Nef or Body of it is round. 1705 ADDISON Italy (1766) 55 The long nef consists of a row of five cupolas. 1775 JOHNSON in Boswell 5 Nov., We saw the cathedral... The choir splendid... The Neff very high and grand.
2. obs. form of NEIF. (See quots.)
1834 M. EDGEWORTH Helen II. 192 Every officer of the household making reverential obeisance as they passed to the Nef,the Nef being..a piece of gilt plate in the shape of the hull of a ship in which the napkins for the king's table are kept. 1862 WRIGHT Dom. Mann. & Sent. Eng. Mid. Ages 163 Of these ornaments, one of the most remarkable was the nef or shipa vessel generally of silver which contained the salt-cellar, towel, &c., of the prince or great lord.
3. An incense-boat. Cf. NAVET2.
1867 M. E. HERBERT Impress. Spain (1868) 208 In the sacristy was..a nacre nef and some fine heads of saints.
And for NEIF:
1. One born in a state of bondage or serfdom (cf. NATIVE n. 1); sometimes spec. a female serf, a bondwoman.
1547 Act 1 Edw. VI, c. 3 §17 Persons, to whom any such Ward, Bondman, or Neife shall apperteine. 1610 W. FOLKINGHAM Art of Survey IV. ii. 82 Villaines & Neifes, which are alwayes saide to be Regardant to a Manour. c1630 RISDON Surv. Devon §206 (1810) 215 In which manor were bond men, anciently called Villains, and the women Neifs. c1780 SIR W. JONES Wks. VII. 10 A lord in feudal times might have been convicted of murder for killing his villain or his neife. 1818 HALLAM Mid. Ages (1872) I. 201 Bracton..holds that the spurious issue of a neif, though by a free father, should be a villein. 1872 C. INNES Lect. Scot. Legal Antiq. ii. 50, I cannot pretend to distinguish with any accuracy the bondman from the neyf.
1532 Dial. on Laws Eng. II. xliii. 107 If a woman be a nyef, and she maryeth a free man. 1582 STANYHURST Æneid III. (Arb.) 81 Me his nyefe to his seruant Helenus ful firmelye betroathed. 1628 COKE On Litt. 122 A woman which is Villein, is called a Niefe. 1641 Termes de la Ley 263 In a writ de Libertate probanda may be put as many Niefes as the plaintife will.
1679 BLOUNT Anc. Tenures 143 Every naif or she villain that took a husband..paid marchet, for redemption of her blood. 1865 NICHOLS Britton I. 195 note, The annotator in MS. N distinguishes between naifs, villains, and serfs.
2. writ of neif: (see NEIFTY). Obs.
1625 SIR H. FINCH Law (1636) 259 In a mort dancestor cosinage, ayell, entry, and Writ of Niefe, from Henrie the thirds Coronation. 1651 tr. Kitchin's Jurisd. (1657) 328 If the Plaintiff in a writ of (Neife) be non-suited [etc.].
Nef
1. The nave of a church.
2. See quotes. (One of the quotes refers to a nef as a vessel of silver which contained the salt cellar of the prince or great lord.)
3. An incense-boat.
4. Nef, an obsolete form of 'neif'.
Non paraphrased(special thanks to Prodigy69):
1. The nave of a church. Also attrib. Obs.
1687 A. LOVELL tr. Thevenot's Trav. I. 187 The Church is very spacious, the Nef or Body of it is round. 1705 ADDISON Italy (1766) 55 The long nef consists of a row of five cupolas. 1775 JOHNSON in Boswell 5 Nov., We saw the cathedral... The choir splendid... The Neff very high and grand.
2. obs. form of NEIF. (See quots.)
1834 M. EDGEWORTH Helen II. 192 Every officer of the household making reverential obeisance as they passed to the Nef,the Nef being..a piece of gilt plate in the shape of the hull of a ship in which the napkins for the king's table are kept. 1862 WRIGHT Dom. Mann. & Sent. Eng. Mid. Ages 163 Of these ornaments, one of the most remarkable was the nef or shipa vessel generally of silver which contained the salt-cellar, towel, &c., of the prince or great lord.
3. An incense-boat. Cf. NAVET2.
1867 M. E. HERBERT Impress. Spain (1868) 208 In the sacristy was..a nacre nef and some fine heads of saints.
And for NEIF:
1. One born in a state of bondage or serfdom (cf. NATIVE n. 1); sometimes spec. a female serf, a bondwoman.
1547 Act 1 Edw. VI, c. 3 §17 Persons, to whom any such Ward, Bondman, or Neife shall apperteine. 1610 W. FOLKINGHAM Art of Survey IV. ii. 82 Villaines & Neifes, which are alwayes saide to be Regardant to a Manour. c1630 RISDON Surv. Devon §206 (1810) 215 In which manor were bond men, anciently called Villains, and the women Neifs. c1780 SIR W. JONES Wks. VII. 10 A lord in feudal times might have been convicted of murder for killing his villain or his neife. 1818 HALLAM Mid. Ages (1872) I. 201 Bracton..holds that the spurious issue of a neif, though by a free father, should be a villein. 1872 C. INNES Lect. Scot. Legal Antiq. ii. 50, I cannot pretend to distinguish with any accuracy the bondman from the neyf.
1532 Dial. on Laws Eng. II. xliii. 107 If a woman be a nyef, and she maryeth a free man. 1582 STANYHURST Æneid III. (Arb.) 81 Me his nyefe to his seruant Helenus ful firmelye betroathed. 1628 COKE On Litt. 122 A woman which is Villein, is called a Niefe. 1641 Termes de la Ley 263 In a writ de Libertate probanda may be put as many Niefes as the plaintife will.
1679 BLOUNT Anc. Tenures 143 Every naif or she villain that took a husband..paid marchet, for redemption of her blood. 1865 NICHOLS Britton I. 195 note, The annotator in MS. N distinguishes between naifs, villains, and serfs.
2. writ of neif: (see NEIFTY). Obs.
1625 SIR H. FINCH Law (1636) 259 In a mort dancestor cosinage, ayell, entry, and Writ of Niefe, from Henrie the thirds Coronation. 1651 tr. Kitchin's Jurisd. (1657) 328 If the Plaintiff in a writ of (Neife) be non-suited [etc.].
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