Where does “cuff” come from?

Cuff comes from Norwegian kuffa, though the ultimate origin and original meaning remain uncertain.

cuff (English): glove; mitten; the end of a shirt sleeve that...

Definitions

  1. glove; mitten; the end of a shirt sleeve that...

Ancestry of “cuff”, step by step

cuff traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English cuffe

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishcuffeglove
2Old Englishcuffiehood, cap

via Norwegian kuffa

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Norwegiankuffato push, shove

Words derived from “cuff

Every word from Old English cuffie