raft: [15] The ancestor of raft meant ‘beam, rafter’. This was Old Norse raptr. Not until it got into English, apparently, was it used for a ‘craft made by tying logs together’. (It should not, incidentally, be confused with the mainly American raft ‘large collection, lot’ [19], which is an alteration of Scottish English raff ‘rubbish’ – probable source of English raffish [19]. This too may well be of Scandinavian origin – Swedish has rafs ‘rubbish’.) Rafter [OE] comes from a Germanic source that was probably also responsible for raft. => raffish, rafter
raft (n.1)
"floating platform," late 15c., originally "rafter" (c. 1300), from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse raptr "log" (Old Norse -pt- pronounced as -ft-), related to Middle Low German rafter, rachter "rafter" (see rafter).
raft (n.2)
"large collection," 1830, variant of raff "heap, large amount," from Middle English raf (compare raffish, riffraff); form and sense associated with raft (n.1).
raft (v.)
1680s, from raft (n.1). Related: Rafted; rafting.
例文
1. The crew spent two days and nights in their raft .
船員は救命いかだに2泊2日滞在した。
2.I made for the life raft and hung on for dear life.
救命いかだの前まで泳いで、必死に捕まえた。
3.The raft gathered speed as the current dragged it toward the falls.