Muff

See also: muff

English

Etymology

• As an English surname, variant of Mowe, itself from Middle English maugh (“son-in-law”), from Old Norse mágr.
• As a German and Alemannic German surname, from the noun mupf (“drooping mouth”), which is probably ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *mauwu (“protruding mouth, pout”).

Proper noun

Muff (plural Muffs)

1. A surname.
2. A diminutive of the female given name Myfanwy.

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Muff is the 22838^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 1121 individuals. Muff is most common among White (76.81%) and Black/African American (19.54%) individuals.

Proper noun

Muff

1. A village in County Donegal, Ireland.
2. An unincorporated community in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, United States.

Translations

village in County Donegal, Ireland

• Irish: Magh

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mʊf/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From older Muffel, from Dutch muffel, from Old French moufle, Medieval Latin muffula.

Noun

Muff m (strong, genitive Muffes or Muffs, plural Muffe)

1. muff (piece of fur or cloth, usually with open ends, used for keeping the hands warm)

Declension

Declension of Muff [masculine, strong]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Muff	die	Muffe
genitive	eines	des	Muffes, Muffs	der	Muffe
dative	einem	dem	Muff, Muffe1	den	Muffen
accusative	einen	den	Muff	die	Muffe

¹Now rare, see notes.

Etymology 2

Back-formation from muffen.

Noun

Muff m (strong, genitive Muffes or Muffs, no plural)

1. (colloquial, chiefly Northern Germany) stench, mouldy smell

   Synonyms: Gestank, Mief

   Unter den Talaren – Muff von 1000 Jahren

   Under the academic dresses – mouldy smell of 1000 years

   (famous slogan of the 1960s student movement in Germany)

   • 2007 November 9, Jon Mendrala, Philipp Dudek, “Schon 40 Jahre ohne Muff”, in Die Tageszeitung: taz‎^[1], Berlin: taz, die tageszeitung Verlagsgenossenschaft eG, →ISSN, archived from the original on 27 June 2024:

     „Unter den Talaren – Muff von 1000 Jahren“ stand in weißer Schrift auf dem schwarzen Banner. […] Die Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung schrieb tags darauf, dass es schon seltsam sei, den Muff von 1000 Jahren anzuprangern – denn so alt sei die 1919 gegründete Universität doch gar nicht.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Declension

Declension of Muff [sg-only, masculine, strong]

	singular
	indef.	def.	noun
nominative	ein	der	Muff
genitive	eines	des	Muffes, Muffs
dative	einem	dem	Muff, Muffe1
accusative	einen	den	Muff

¹Now rare, see notes.

Further reading

• “Muff”, in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache‎^[2] (in German)
• “Muff” in Duden online
• “Muff” in Duden online
• “Muff” in Duden online