furfur

Etymology

From Latin furfur (“bran”), reduplication of *fur, from *gʰur-, metathesis of Proto-Indo-European *gʰrus- (compare Lithuanian grū́sti (“to grind (barley)”), Ancient Greek χρώς (khrṓs, “skin, husk”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɜːfə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfɝfɚ/

Noun

furfur (usually uncountable, plural furfures)

1. (archaic, countable) a particle of dandruff
2. (archaic, uncountable) dandruff
   • 1964, Anthony Burgess, Nothing Like the Sun

     ‘Aye,’ said WS, still in bed, scratching his baldness, examining the furfur in his fingernails.

Anagrams

• furrfu

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰur-

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈfur.fur/, [ˈfʊr.fʊr]

Noun

furfur m (genitive furfuris); third declension

1. bran, husks of grain
2. scaly infection of the skin

References

• furfur in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• furfur in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Hachette