Etymograph

English

truffle

Truffle comes from Old Occitan trufa, and goes back to Latin tūber.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtūber1
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtufera1
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500trufa1
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presenttrufle1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1961truffle1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English truffle
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “In ancient times, the Romans imported truffles, credited with…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtūberWiktionary, English truffle
  2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEtuferaWiktionary, English truffle
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500trufaWiktionary, English truffle
  4. Frenchc. 1600–presenttrufleWiktionary, English truffle
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1961truffleWiktionary, English truffle. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs: “In ancient times, the Romans imported truffles, credited with…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’

butter, tumor, tomb, tumour, soma, tumultuous, tyrosine, tumult, turgid, trifle, madrasa, 42 more

through Proto-Italic *tūβos

tuff, tubercle, tufa, 5 more

through Latin tūber

tuberculosis, tuber, 7 more

Today it means

noun Any of various edible fungi, of the genus Tuber, that grow in the soil in southern Europe; the earthnut.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “truffle”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin tūber / truffle

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