Word of the day: furlough
Until a couple of weeks ago, most people had never heard the word furlough. Now it is everywhere. But what does it mean? And where did it come from?
As a noun, it has three meanings:
- a vacation or leave of absence granted to an enlisted person
- a temporary leave of absence authorised for a prisoner from a penitentiary
- a usually temporary layoff from work
Clearly, in current circumstances of the coronavirus crisis, it is the last meaning that is relevant.
The origin of the word is the period 1615–25. It is a variant of earlier furlogh or furloff from the Dutch word erlof for leave, permission and the current pronunciation is by association with dough.