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Origin and history of fluff

fluff(n.)

"light, feathery stuff," 1790, apparently a variant of floow "wooly substance, down, nap" (1580s), perhaps from Flemish vluwe, from French velu "shaggy, hairy," from Latin vellus "fleece," or Latin villus "tuft of hair" (see velvet). OED suggests fluff as "an imitative modification" of floow, "imitating the action of puffing away some light substance." Slang bit of fluff "young woman" is from 1903. The marshmallow confection Fluff dates to c. 1920 in Massachusetts, U.S.

also from 1790

fluff(v.)

"to shake into a soft mass," 1875, from fluff (n.). Meaning "make a mistake" is from 1884, originally in theater slang. Related: Fluffed; fluffing.

also from 1875

Entries linking to fluff

velvet(n.)

"closely woven silk stuff with a very thick short pile on one side," early 14c., from Anglo-French and Old French velvet (also compare Medieval Latin velvetum). This is probably via Old Provençal veluet, from Vulgar Latin *villutittus, a diminutive of *villutus "velvet," literally "shaggy cloth," from Latin villus "shaggy hair, nap of cloth, tuft of hair," which is probably a dialectal variant of vellus "fleece, wool shorn off," a derivative of vellere "to pull out, deprive of hair, feathers, etc." (see svelte).

It is attested by early 15c. in reference to the covering of a growing antler. By 1580s as figurative of something soft and smooth to the touch. The figurative velvet glove "appearance of suavity and gentleness of manner" is by 1850, frequently paired with iron fist.

fluffy(adj.)

"containing or resembling fluff," 1825, from fluff (n.) + -y (2). Related: Fluffiness.

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Trends of fluff

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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bagatelle

1630s, "a trifle, thing of no importance," from French bagatelle "knick-knack, bauble, trinket" (16c.), from Italian bagatella "a trifle," which is perhaps a diminutive of Latin baca "berry," or from one of the continental words (such as Old French bague "bundle") from the same s

tease

formerly also teaze, Old English tæsan "pluck, pull, tear; pull apart, comb" (fibers of wool, flax, etc.), from Proto-Germanic *taisijan (source also of Danish tæse, Middle Dutch tesen, Dutch tezen "to draw, pull, scratch," Old High German zeisan "to tease, pick wool"). The origi

fumble

mid-15c., "handle clumsily," possibly from Old Norse falma "to fumble, grope." Similar words in Scandinavian and North Sea Germanic (Swedish fumla; Dutch fommelen) suggest onomatopoeia from a sound felt to indicate clumsiness (compare bumble, stumble, and obsolete English famble,

lint

Applied to stray cotton fluff from 1610s, though in later use this is said to be American English....

filter

early 15c., "piece of felt through which liquid is strained," from Old French feutre "felt, felt hat, carpet" (Modern French filtre) and directly from Medieval Latin filtrum "felt" (used to strain impurities from liquid), from West Germanic *filtiz (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to th

material

mid-14c., "real, ordinary; earthly, drawn from the material world" (contrasted with spiritual, mental, supernatural), a term in scholastic philosophy and theology, from Old French material, materiel (14c.) and directly from Late Latin materialis (adj.) "of or belonging to matter,

miscarry

c. 1300, "go astray;" mid-14c., "come to harm; come to naught, perish;" of persons, "to die," of objects, "to be lost or destroyed," from mis- (1) "wrongly" + caryen "to carry" (see carry (v.)). Meaning "deliver an unviable fetus" is recorded from 1520s (compare abortion); that o

blow

"move air, produce a current of air," Middle English blouen, from Old English blawan "to blow (of the wind, bellows, etc.), breathe, make an air current; kindle; inflate; sound" a wind instrument (class VII strong verb; past tense bleow, past participle blawen), from Proto-German

bowl

"round, low vessel to hold liquids or liquid food," Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl," from Proto-Germanic *bul- "a round vessel" (source also of Old Norse bolle, Old High German bolla), from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell." Formerly also "a large drinking cup," hence figur

muff

1590s, "covering into which both hands may be thrust to keep them warm," from Dutch mof "a muff," shortened from Middle Dutch moffel "mitten, muff," from French moufle "mitten," from Old French mofle "thick glove, large mitten, handcuffs" (9c.), from Medieval Latin muffula

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