DictionaryRoot: gedæfte
Old English

gedæfte

gentle, becoming

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A South Asian adult seamstress deftly threads a very fine needle in one smooth precise motion, focus on coherent hands and the needle, simple workshop with no text.
adjective

deft

DEFT/deft/

Skillful, quick, and graceful in doing or expressing something.

Etymology

Old English gedæfte meant “gentle” or “becoming.” Its later senses diverged: deft came to describe skillful action, while the same ancestor also produced daft, with its unfavorable sense of foolishness.

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