A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 2002 (DOST Vol. XI).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1597-1669
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Tuft(e, Tift, n. [ME and e.m.E. tuft (Chaucer), tufte (1523), tuffe (1585). Cf. OF toffe, tofe and L. tūfa.] a. attrib. Describing a type of taffeta. [Cf. e.m.E. tufte taffyta (1572), ‘taffeta with a pile or nap arranged in tufts’ (OED s.v. Tuftaffeta n.)] b. A tuft (of hair). c. ? A tassel. —a. 1597 Bk. Rates 11b.
Taffaties, figurat; Taffaties, single tuft of the cord —b. 1600-1610 Melvill 82.
His browes grait tuftes of heire, and als grait a tuft upon the verie neb of his nease 1669 Jus Populi 472.
A tift of … haire —c. 1597 Edinburgh Testaments XXXI 141a.
Thrie vnce wecht of blak silk tuftis or bobis at xx s. the vnce 1646 Edinburgh Testaments LXII 128b.
Twa Manchester rolls of tufts estimat all to viij lib.
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"Tuft n.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 14 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/tufte>
