Etymograph

English

tuffet

Tuffet comes from Old French touffel.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400touffel1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1805tuffet1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English tuffet
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1805, Songs for the Nursery: “Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400touffelWiktionary, English tuffet
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1805tuffetWiktionary, English tuffet. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1805, Songs for the Nursery: “Little Miss Muffet, She sat on a tuffet, Eating…”

The story

Regarding etymological and semantic uncertainty, see Wikipedia at Little Miss Muffet § Tuffet and §§ Uncertain meaning.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Every English word from Old French touffel

Today it means

noun A clump of grass or similar vegetation; a small grass-covered mound.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tuffet”. 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 / Old French touffel / tuffet

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