truffle
noun/ˈtɹʌf.l̩/ · /ˈtɹʊf.l̩/
Etymology Borrowed from French trufle, a variant of truffe (whence also Danish and Norwegian trøffel, Swedish tryffel, German Trüffel), from Old Occitan trufa, a metathesis of Late Latin tufera (plural), from Latin tūber (“truffle”).
1
Any of various edible fungi, of the genus Tuber, that grow in the soil in southern Europe; the earthnut.
- In ancient times, the Romans imported truffles, credited with marked aphrodisiac virtue, from Libya as well as Greece.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 137:
2
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of chocolate truffle (“creamy chocolate confection, in the form of a ball, covered with cocoa powder”).
- Derived terms
- black truffle, Chinese truffle, chocolate truffle, corn truffle, desert truffle, false truffle, magic truffle, pecan truffle, truffle butter, truffled, truffle hog, truffle hunter, truffle hunting, trufflelike, truffle oil, truffle pig, truffler, truffle shuffle, truffley, truffling, truffly, white truffle