English
tuff
Tuff may come from French tuffe.
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttuffeuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2004tuff
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttuffeuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2004tuff
Earliest quotation: 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth: “This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’
butter, tomb, tumor, soma, tumour, trifle, tyrosine, tumultuous, tumult, madrasa, turgid, tubercle, 42 more
through Proto-Italic *tūβos
through Italian tufo
Today it means
noun A light porous rock, now especially a rock composed of compacted volcanic ash varying in size from fine sand to coarse gravel.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / French tuffe / tuff