▪ I. truffle
(ˈtrʌf(ə)l, ˈtrʊf(ə)l)
Also 7–8 trufle, treuffle, 8 troufle.
[app. a derivative of Fr. trufe, truffe (1370 in Hatz.-Darm.), Comask. treufol, Genev. trufola, in same sense; of unsettled etymology. According to Diez and Hatz.-Darm., prob. repr. L. tūber-, supposed to have been altered at an early date to *tūfer-, whence *tūfre, trūfe, tuffe. The change of gender has been accounted for by supposing the neuter pl. tūbera to have been treated as a fem. sing. (cf. Bible, arms); according to Graff tūbera appears as a fem. sing. in some Ger. glossaries of the 9th c. A form without r is found in Swiss Romand and Languedoc tufelle, tufeda. Cf. also the Eng. contraction trub.
But this derivation is by no means certain; a longer form appears in It. tartuffo, Milanese tartuffel, Ven. tartuf, tartufola, Piemont tartifla, Rheto-Rumansch tartufe, Languedoc tartifle, Berry tartrufle. These mean ‘potato’, and have been explained by Miège as = terræ tuber; whence Ger. kartoffel, dial. tartoffel, Icel. tartuflur pl. potatoes. See the word in Diez, Scheler, and Littré.]
1. a. Any one of various underground fungi of the family Tuberaceæ; spec. an edible fungus of the genus Tuber, a native of Central and Southern Europe, esteemed as a delicacy; esp. T. æstivum or cibarium, the Common (English) Truffle, and T. melanosporum, the French Truffle, which have a black, warty exterior, and vary in size between that of a walnut and that of a large potato, which they more or less resemble in shape.
| 1591 Sparry tr. Cattan's Geomancie B ij, The Topas and the Truffle haue power of Chastity, and to subdue the flesh. 1644 Evelyn Diary 30 Sept., Here we supped.., having amongst other dainties, a dish of trufles, an earth nut found by an hogg train'd to it. 1691 Ray Creation ii. (1692) 99 By tying a Cord to the hind-leg of a Pig, and driving him before them..observing where he stops and begins to root,..they are sure to find a Trufle. 1726 Arbuthnot It cannot rain, etc. 10 A Dog is an Ass to him [Peter the Wild Boy] for finding Troufles. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 558 Thy Truffles, Perigord! thy Hams, Bayonne! 1847 Thackeray Mrs. Perkins's Ball ¶17 Such a quantity of goose-liver and truffles. 1866 Treas. Bot. s.v., Applied generally, the name Truffle (or Trubs) comprises all the Fungi which belong to the natural orders Hypogæi and Tuberacei. |
| fig. 1897 Literature 20 Nov. 155/1 A thin, ancient-looking octavo,..rooted up with other literary truffles. |
b. attrib. and
Comb., as
truffle-bed,
truffle-grower,
truffle-hunter,
truffle-hunting, etc.;
truffle-like,
truffle-stuffed adjs.;
truffle-beetle, a beetle whose subterranean larvæ feed on the truffle;
truffle-dog,
-pig, a dog or pig trained to discover truffles; also
fig.;
truffle hound = truffle dog;
truffle-worm, the larva of an insect infesting the truffle: see
quots.| 1726 Bradley Gardening App. 38 No Herb or plant is ever seen to grow upon a Trufflery or *Truffle bed. 1885 F. Whymper in Girl's Own Paper Jan. 169/1 A trained hog, when it has discovered a truffle bed, is immovable. |
| 1899 Sharp in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VI. v. 222 The larvae of the group Anisotomides are believed to be chiefly subterranean in habits; that of A. cinnamomea feeds on the truffle, and the beetle is known as the *truffle-beetle. |
| 1855 S. Whiting Heliondé ii. 47 ‘If they should see you digging into the surface of the Sun’ (he might have added ‘like a *truffle dog’) ‘they will certainly think you are demented.’ 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. iv. 114 As a truffle-dog noses out the dainty objects of his search. 1899 Hale Lowell & Friends xiv. 254 The reader is not necessarily an authority in language. He is a scout or truffle-dog who brings the result of his exploration to the authorities. |
| 1898 Gard. Mag. 3 Sept. 572/2 The Agricultural Society of the Department of the Lot awards prizes at its shows to *truffle growers. |
| 1975 J. Grigson Mushroom Feast 134 There is the whole business of truffle pigs and *truffle hounds. |
| a 1793 G. White Observ. Veg. in Selborne, etc. (1837) 487 A *truffle-hunter called on us, having in his pocket several large truffles found in this neighbourhood. |
| 1885 F. Whymper in Girl's Own Paper Jan. 169/1 In Upper Provence a hog trained to *truffle-hunting is worth the equivalent of eight pounds sterling. |
| 1898 P. Manson Trop. Diseases xxxvii. 573 Moulded into *truffle-like masses. |
| 1915 N.E.D., *Truffle-pig. 1975 [see truffle-hound]. |
| 1841 Thackeray Mem. Gormandising Wks. 1900 XIII. 589 Fat *truffle-stuffed partridges. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., *Truffle-worms,..a species of fly-worm which is found in Truffles. 1888 Cassell's Encycl. Dict. s.v., A species of Leiodes deposits its ova in it, which in the pupa state feed upon the substance of the truffle; in this state they are called truffle-worms. |
2. A type of confectionery made of a mixture of chocolate and cream,
freq. flavoured with rum, shaped into a ball and covered with powdered chocolate.
| 1926–7 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 54/2 Chocolates..Truffles—lb. 4/3. c 1938 Fortnum & Mason Price List 8/1 Truffles, with fresh cream (perishable)..Truffles, Rum Flavoured. 1944 D. Welch In Youth is Pleasure iv. 61 He imagined the aromatic acrid dust..sticking to [the heart] and coating it..as bright-coloured bitter cocoa powder clings to the rich dark truffle. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 407/1 (heading) Chocolate truffles. Ibid. 675/1 Turkish delight and marshmallows, chocolates and truffles. 1974 J. Stubbs Painted Face xiii. 168 [His] only acquaintance with truffles had been the chocolate variety. |
Hence
truffled (
ˈtrʌf(ə)ld)
a., cooked, garnished, or stuffed with truffles;
† ˈtrufflery, a truffle-bed;
truffˈlesque a. (
nonce-wd.), resembling that of truffles;
ˈtruffling vbl. n., gathering truffles.
| 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 131 The liver and thighs of geese,..made into pies, and properly truffled,..are reckoned a most delicate article. 1902 E. Glyn Refl. Ambrosine ii. viii, Truffled partridge in aspic. |
| 1726 *Trufflery [see truffle-bed above]. |
| 1841 Thackeray Mem. Gormandising Wks. 1900 XIII. 583 A *trufflesque odour was left in the room. Ibid. 588 Some faint trufflesque savour. 1859 Times 14 Feb. 5/5 Many of these..people [poor labourers in Wiltshire] live by truffling and poaching, in the absence of farmer's employment. |
Add:
ˈtruffle v. intr., to hunt or root about for truffles;
freq. fig.| 1958 Observer 4 May 2/11 In New York truffling for forgotten ephemera, my quest took me to vaults in Manhattan. 1981 Times 23 July 12/8 This book is worth reading... You can truffle happily among the errors and the fantasy. 1984 Times 14 Jan. 11/1 Pannage to let their pigs into the wood to truffle for acorns or beechmast on the ground but without the right to shake down any more from the trees. 1991 Observer 4 Aug. 17/6 Swedes almost truffle for grief and inevitably find it. |
▪ II. truffle, trufle, truful obs. forms of
trifle.