furfur
English
Etymology
From Latin furfur (“bran”), reduplication of *fur, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰur-, metathesis of *gʰrus- (compare Lithuanian grū́sti (“to grind (barley)”), Ancient Greek χρώς (khrṓs, “skin, husk”)).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfɜːfə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfɝfɚ/
Noun
furfur (usually uncountable, plural furfures)
- (archaic, countable) a particle of dandruff
- (archaic, uncountable) dandruff
- 1964, Anthony Burgess, Nothing Like the Sun:
- ‘Aye,’ said WS, still in bed, scratching his baldness, examining the furfur in his fingernails.
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Translations
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Anagrams
- furrfu
Latin
Etymology
Unknown. Traditionally explained as from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, grind”), however as De Vaan notes the vowel /u/ would be unexplained; a preform *gʰur- ~ *ǵʰur- would be expected instead, but no such root exists.[1] Compare Ancient Greek κέγχρος (kénkhros) and κάχρυς (kákhrus), which also relate to grains.
Alternatively, cognate with Sanskrit बुस (busa, “chaff, refuse grain; rubbish”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰus-.[2] In either of these cases, from a reduplicated root.
Given the word's unusual form in the absence of a solid Indo-European explanation, borrowing from some unknown, perhaps substrate, source is likely.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈfur.fur/, [ˈfʊrfʊr]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈfur.fur/, [ˈfurfur]
Noun
furfur m (genitive furfuris); third declension
- bran, husks of grain, chaff
- scaly infection of the skin
Declension
Third-declension noun.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | furfur | furfurēs |
| Genitive | furfuris | furfurum |
| Dative | furfurī | furfuribus |
| Accusative | furfurem | furfurēs |
| Ablative | furfure | furfuribus |
| Vocative | furfur | furfurēs |
Derived terms
- furfurāceus
- furfurāculum
- furfurārius
- furfureus
- furfuriō
- furfurōsus
Descendants
- Italian: forfora, forforo (Lucchese)
- Old French: fourfre
- Piedmontese: forfa, fòrfora
- Sardinian: frùffere, fùffere, fùrfaru
- → Catalan: fúrfur
- → English: furfur ⇒ furfuraceous
- → French: furfures
References
- Rubattu, Antoninu (2006), “crusca”, in Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “fŭrfŭr”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 3: D–F, page 895
- De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “furfur, -is”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 252
- Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), “pīsäl”, in A Dictionary of Tocharian B: Revised and Greatly Enlarged (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 10), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, page 417
Further reading
- “furfur”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- furfur in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette