English
tuff
Tuff comes from Italian tufo, and perhaps goes back to Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-1‘to swell’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tūβos1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtōfus2
- Italianc. 1300–presenttufo2
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttuffe2uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2004tuff2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin tofus
- 2 Wiktionary, English tuff
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth: “This is what makes an ignimbrite; the general term…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-Wiktionary, Latin tofus‘to swell’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tūβosWiktionary, Latin tofusuncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtōfusWiktionary, English tuff
- Italianc. 1300–presenttufoWiktionary, English tuff
- Frenchc. 1600–presenttuffeWiktionary, English tuffuncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 2004tuffWiktionary, English tuff. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “tuff”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tofus. 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 / Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- / tuff