Etymology: Probably < Dutch mof muff, mitten (probably attested in Middle Dutch in a single 15th-cent. attestation, although this is of doubtful interpretation; subsequently attested from mid 17th cent.), shortened < Middle Dutch moffel , muffel < Middle French moufle muffle n.² Compare post-classical Latin muffa (14th cent. in British sources), perhaps < a continental form, or perhaps independently shortened < muffula , muffla muffle n.² Compare French regional (Walloon) mofe, mouffe, German Muffe, Muff (17th cent.), Swedish muff.With sense 3c compare muffed adj.¹ 1a and muff n.⁴, muffit n., mufflin n., mufty n., all earlier in ornithological senses. Dict. Older Sc. Tongue s.v. Mouf, Mufe n., notes that quot. 1568 at sense 1a perhaps shows use of the word with the sense ‘a muffler of some kind round the neck’ (compare muffle n.¹).

Etymology: < Dutch mof, a derogatory term for a German or a Swiss (16th cent. in Middle Dutch as moffe , muffe ), probably < German Muff grumbler, ill-mannered person (see mop v.²). Compare muff n.⁵

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps imitative of an inarticulate sound (compare e.g. buff n.⁴, miff n., mum n.¹). Compare earlier muff v.¹, marry-muff n. Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v. muff n.¹ and v.¹ also records use of the word as an adjective from Yorkshire and Leicestershire with the sense ‘quiet, noiseless, silent, dull’ (compare mum adj.).

Etymology: Probably < a specific use of muff n.¹ (compare sense 3c and see note at that entry).Perhaps compare Dutch mofje tufted duck. N.E.D. (1908) also suggests comparison with Dutch moef , mof greenfinch, but J. F. Bense Dict. Low-Dutch Element in Eng. Vocab. (1939) at muff n.⁴ disagrees with this, arguing that this use of the term for a greenfinch derives < Dutch mof (see Muff n.²), stating that ‘groen ‘green’ was often used in connexion with this word’. N.E.D. (1908) gives the pronunciation as (mɒf) /mʌf/.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps < muff n.¹ (see note below). Perhaps compare slightly later French mufle (1824 in sense ‘an oafish person’: see muffle n.³). In sense 2 probably directly < muff v.³This word may be a specific application of muff n.¹, perhaps conveying the sense of something soft (and, by extension, something weak), or perhaps implying clumsiness commensurate with keeping one's hands in a muff. N.E.D (1908) notes that, since this word is apparently not attested before the beginning of the nineteenth cent., it is unlikely to be related to earlier Muff n.², but this has been disputed (see J. F. Bense Dict. Low-Dutch Element in Eng. Vocab. (1939) 233). E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable (1895) draws attention to the (perhaps unconnected) name of Sir Henry Muff, a foolish, blundering character in H. B. Dudley's Rival Candidates (1775).

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps imitative of an inarticulate sound: see muff n.³ and discussion at that entry. Compare mum v.

Etymology: < muff n.¹

Etymology: < muff n.⁵

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps < muff n.¹ (compare sense 3b at that entry). Compare muffle v.¹, and also slightly earlier muff glass n.