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MUFF

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 955 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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MUFF , an See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of outdoor See also:

APPAREL (from O. Fr. aparail, aparailler, mod. appareil, from Low Lat. adpariculare, to make fit. or equal)

apparel, open at either end, for holding the hands in and keeping them warm, generally made of See also:

FUR (connected with O. Fr. forre, a sheath or case; so " an outer covering ")

fur, but also of See also:

VELVET

velvet, See also:

SILK

silk, &c. Muffs are now only used in See also:

England by See also:

WOMEN

women, but in the 17th and 18th centuries were fashionable for men. In See also:

ROMAN

Roman times the See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of the See also:

GLOVE (O. Eng. glof, perhaps connected with Gothic lofa, the palm of the hand)

glove was taken by See also:

long sleeves (manicae) reaching to the See also:

hand, and in See also:

winter See also:

SPECIAL

special sleeves of fur were worn (cf. Cic. Phil. ii. 11, 26). In See also:

MEDIEVAL

Medieval Latin we find the word muffulae, defined by Du Cange (See also:

GLOSS, GLOSSARY

Gloss., s.v.) as chirothecae pellitae et hibernae. He quotes from a cartulary of the See also:

YEAR

year 817, of the issuing to monks of See also:

sheep-skin coverings to be used during the winter. These may have been, as the Roman certainly were, See also:

SEPARATE

separate coverings for each hand, although the cartulary cited also distinguishes the glove for summer from the muffulae for winter See also:

WEAR

wear. The O. Fr. moufte meant a thick glove or See also:

MITTEN

mitten, and from this the Du. mot', Walloon mouffe, and thence Eng. " muff," are probably derived.

From the Fr. moufle have come the various uses, verbal and substantival, of " muffle," viz. to wrap See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round for See also:

PROTECTION

protection, for deadening See also:

sound &c., and for a chamber or receptacle in a See also:

FURNACE

furnace to protect See also:

OBJECTS

objects from contact with See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire while exposed to See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat. The See also:

SLANG

slang use of " muff " for a clumsy, awkward See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person is of See also:

LATE

late origin. It appears in the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 19th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century. 1 The contemptuous designation Muckern See also:

DATES

dates from this See also:

End of Article: MUFF

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MUDIE, CHARLES EDWARD (1818—189o)

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MUFFLING, FRIEDRICH KARL FERDINAND, FREIHERR