Etymology

OE had the i-mutated form lyft ‘air, sky, clouds, atmosphere', attested as fem., masc. and neut., but probably originally a fem. ti-stem < PGmc *luft-i-z (Bammesberger); cp. OIcel loft (lopt) ‘air, atmosphere, sky, heaven; space; loft, upper room; balcony’ (a neut. a-stem < PGmc *luft-a-n), next to Go luftus (masc.), OFris luft(e), OS luft (fem., masc.), OHG luft (fem., masc.) ‘air’ (which suppose also a masc. u-stem PGmc *luft-u-z).  The late OE and ME form loft- therefore requires a declensional type otherwise characteristic of the Scandinavian languages; and, though it is in principle possible to suppose an unrecorded OE variant with this stem (as SPS 72–3 notes), all authorities derive from ON. See also lyfte.

PGmc Ancestor

*luft-a-n

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

loft ‘air, atmosphere, sky, heaven; space; loft, upper room; balcony’
(ONP loft (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far loft, luft, Icel loft, lopt, Norw loft, luft, Dan loft, luft, Sw loft, luft

OE Cognate

cp. lyft ‘air, sky (etc.)'

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

C1b

(CC3ab)

Attestation

On the single late OE attestation of loft, see see SPS 317. Common and widespread in ME in the sense ‘sky, air (etc.)’ since a1225(OE) Vsp.A.Hom.Init.Creat.(Vsp A.22) and a1225 PMor.(Trin-C B.14.52) (see further Hug 1987: 351–70, and Dance 2011: 102 on the form loftsong). The meaning ‘upper room’ is less frequent, but attested from a range of sources besides Gaw (inc. Horn and Chaucer).  EPNE attests loft in a number of N/EM place-names, where it speculates that the meaning might have been ‘something elevated, esp. a hill’ (cp. Norw place-names); and with the meaning ‘loft’ in names denoting buildings, esp. in compounds with OE hūs or ON hús (which are Yks. only).  

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 788, 1096, 1676 etc.; Cl 206, 318, 692 etc.; Pat 237, 449; Erk 81; WA 196, 221, 385 etc.

<on lofte> at Erk 81 has been interpreted as a phrase (McGee 438) or a compound adv. (i.e. a variant of alofte with native on-, thus Peterson, GollErk).

Bibliography

MED loft (n.) , OED loft (n.) , HTOED , HTOED ,  Dance lofte, Bj. 249–50, SPS 72–3, 317, de Vries lopt, Mag. loft, Bj-L. loft, Bammesberger 157, Orel *luftuz ~ *luftiz, Kroonen *luftu-, AEW loft, EPNE lopt; lopt-hús