This week’s theme
Words from nursery rhymes

This week’s words
Humpty Dumpty
tuffet
Mother Hubbard
sukey
Simple Simon

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(TUHF-it)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A clump of something.
2. A mound.
3. A low seat, stool, cushion, etc.

ETYMOLOGY:

Diminutive of tuft, from French touffe (tuft). Earliest documented use: 1553.

NOTES:

The nursery rhyme goes: What was that tuffet? Nobody knows. Apparently, it was a mound, but it has been variously interpreted as a cushion, a stool, etc., and accordingly developed those senses in the English language.

USAGE:

“Richard Dormer is a hairy tuffet of charisma in the lead role.”
Robbie Collin & Tim Robey; Film; The Daily Telegraph (London, UK); Mar 30, 2013.

“‘Sharon 1975’ was painted when she was 40 and features her sitting on a tuffet and holding a single red rose.”
Mark Brunswick; Sharon Olson, Pinup Model; Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota); Oct 29, 2015.

See more usage examples of tuffet in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: