Etymology

tiff

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Today it means: A (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat. Full definition →

Middle English tiffen ← Old French tifer ← Frankish *tipfōn
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tiff · noun, verb1

The origin of the noun is unknown; it is possibly originally dialectal and may be onomatopoeic, representing the sound of a small puff of air or gas. The verb is derived from the noun.

tiff · noun2

See TIFF.

tiff · verb3

Probably a back-formation from or clipping of tiff(in) (“(light) midday meal or snack, luncheon”).

tiff · noun, verb4

The origin of the noun is unknown; it may be onomatopoeic, representing the sound of liquor being sipped. The verb is derived from the noun.

tiff · verb, noun5

  1. Frankish · derived from*tipfōn
  2. Old French · derived fromtifer
  3. Middle English · inherited fromtiffen
  4. English todaytiff

From Middle English tiffen, tif, tiffe (“to adorn, dress up; to arrange (a hairstyle); to disguise”), from Old French tifer, tiffer (“to adorn, dress up”) (modern French attifer (“to deck out”)), from Frankish *tipfōn, *tippōn (“to decorate”), possibly related to Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“plait of hair, tuft; summit, top”) (see the further etymology at that entry). The noun is derived from the verb. cognates * Dutch tippen (“to clip the points or ends of the hair”) * English tip (noun) * Middle High German zipfen (“to bob; to flutter; to frisk, prance, skip; to sashay”) * Old Norse tippa (“point, tip”)

Tiff · proper noun6

Shortened from Tiffany.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.