muffle

The story

1. Frankish · derived from*molfell“soft garment made of hide”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*fellą“skin, film, fleece”
3. Proto-Germanic · derived from*mawwō“sleeve”
4. Frankish · derived from*muffël“a muff, wrap, envelope”
5. Germanic · derived from
6. Medieval Latin · derived frommuffula“a muff”
7. Old French · derived fromenmoufler“to wrap up, muffle”
8. Anglo-Norman · derived fromamoufler
9. Middle English · inherited frommuflen“to muffle”
10. English todaymuffle

From Middle English muflen (“to muffle”), aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle”), from moufle (“mitten”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff”), of Germanic origin (—first recorded in the Capitulary of Aachen in 817 C.E.), from Frankish *muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) from *mauwa (“sleeve, wrap”) (from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”)) + *vël (“skin, hide”) (from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”). Alternate etymology traces the Medieval Latin word to Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”), English mulch) + *fell (“hide, skin”).

Words from the same roots