Etymology: < Middle French trufe, Middle French, French truffe blunder, lie, trick, prank (all late 12th cent. in Old French), jest, joke (13th cent.), trifle, bauble (late 13th cent.), underground fungus, truffle (1363) < Old Occitan trufa truffle (12th cent.), jest, joke (c1225; also 1603 in sense ‘potato’: see note) < post-classical Latin tufera (6th cent.), alteration (probably after an unattested Oscan or Umbrian form *tufer ) of classical Latin tūber tuber n.² Compare post-classical Latin trufa trick (frequently from 13th cent. in British and continental sources). Compare Catalan trufa joke (1453; also ‘truffle’ and ‘potato’), Spanish trufa trick (15th cent. or earlier), truffle (1766), Portuguese trufa (14th cent.), Italian truffa small talk, trivialities (c1300), trick, deception (a1342). Compare trub n., truffle n.Semantic development. The motivation for the semantic development from ‘truffle’ to ‘trick, joke’ in Old Occitan is uncertain; it has been explained as arising from the fact that truffles are notoriously difficult to find, and can be seen as ‘tricking’ those who hunt for them. Developments in Latin. The change of gender seen in post-classical Latin tufera has been accounted for by supposing the neuter plural tūbera of classical Latin tūber was treated as a feminine singular; according to Graff, post-classical Latin tubera appears as a feminine singular in some German glossaries of the 9th cent. Related words in other languages. Compare Italian tartufo truffle (16th cent.), apparently < post-classical Latin *terrae tufer , regional variant of classical Latin terrae tūber truffle (lit. ‘tuber of the ground’). Compare also various regional derivatives of this Italian word with a diminutive suffix (compare -ola -ola suffix¹) denoting the truffle (e.g. Italian regional †tartuffolo (a1508), †tartufolo (16th cent.), †tartufola (early 16th cent.)), and subsequently also (from c1600) the potato, presumably owing to the similarity in the form and underground location of the edible portions of the two plants. This word was borrowed in the latter sense into Swiss German as †Tartuffel (1651), giving rise (with dissimilation) to modern German Kartoffel potato (1758 as †Cartoffel), which is itself the proximate source for words for the potato in a number of other Germanic languages. For further discussion, see Französisches etymol. Wörterbuch at tūber.

Etymology: Origin unknown.A Cornish origin seems unlikely; the closest parallel, Old Cornish trud trout (of uncertain origin, perhaps influenced by Old English truht or its etymon classical Latin tructa , trutta trout n.¹), is attested only in one glossary and there is no evidence that it survived into later use.

Etymology: < Middle French, French truffer, trufer to mock, joke, tease (13th cent. in Old French), to trick, deceive (c1422–5) < truffe truff n.¹ Compare post-classical Latin trufare , trufari to deceive, trick (from 13th cent. in British and continental sources), Old Occitan trufar to mock, Catalan trufar , Spanish trufar to swindle (c1400 or earlier), Portuguese trufar (1606), Italian truffare to swindle, cheat (13th–14th cent.), to obtain by trickery (1612). Compare earlier trifle v.¹, truff n.¹, and later truphane n. Compare slightly earlier truffing n.