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chu·fa

(chfə)

A sedge (Cyperus esculentus) sometimes cultivated for its edible nutlike tubers, and often occurring as a weed.

[Spanish, from earlier chufa, mockery, joke (probably used of the tubers because they were considered to be of little value and perhaps also influenced by trufa, truffle), alteration of chufla, from chuflar, to whistle, ridicule, from Vulgar Latin *sufilāre, alteration of Latin sībilāre, sīfilāre, to hiss, whistle at.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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