Where does “duff” come from?
Duff comes from Middle English doffe, Old English doff, Proto-Germanic *duppaz, and Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-, meaning to push or thrust.
duff (English): Dough; A stiff flour pudding, often with dried...
Definitions
- Dough; A stiff flour pudding, often with dried...
Ancestry of “duff”, step by step
duff traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English dough
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | dough | A thick, malleable substance made by mixing flour... |
| 2 | Middle English | dow | Alternative form of dogh |
| 3 | Old English | dāg | dough |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | daigaz | soft; that which is formed or kneaded; dough |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | *dʰóyǵʰos | something that is kneaded, formed |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰeyǵʰ- | to knead; to form, to shape |