Etymology 1
From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish *kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, from Proto-Germanic *kupjō (“cap”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap”).
Verb
cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)
- (transitive) To furnish with cuffs.
Translations
the end of a shirt sleeve that covers the wrist
- Aromanian: mãnichetã f
- Belarusian: абшэ́ўка f (abšéŭka), абшла́г m (abšláh), манжэ́та f (manžéta)
- Bulgarian: манше́т (bg) m (manšét), ръкавела (bg) f (rǎkavela)
- Catalan: puny (ca) m, bocamàniga f
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 袖口 (zh) (xiùkǒu)
- Czech: manžeta (cs) f
- Danish: manchet c
- Dutch: manchet (nl) f, voormouw
- Emilian: pulsén m, peramàn m, pulsèin m
- Esperanto: manumo (eo)
- Finnish: hihansuu (fi), kalvosin (fi)
- French: manchette (fr) f
- Galician: puño (gl) m
- German: Manschette (de) f, Bündchen (de) n, Ärmelbündchen n, Hemdmanschette f, Luftmanschette f
- Greek: μανσέτα (el) n (manséta)
- Hebrew: חֵפֶת (he) m (hepet)
- Hungarian: mandzsetta (hu)
- Indonesian: manset (id)
- Irish: cufa m
- Italian: polsino m
- Japanese: 袖口 (ja) (そでぐち, sodeguchi), カフ (ja) (kafu)
- Korean: 수구 (ko) (sugu), 커프스 (keopeuseu)
- Macedonian: манже́тна f (manžétna)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: mansjett m
- Nynorsk: mansjett m
- Polish: mankiet (pl) m
- Portuguese: punho (pt) m
- Romanian: manșetă (ro) f
- Russian: манже́та (ru) f (manžéta), обшла́г (ru) m (obšlág)
- Scottish Gaelic: bann-dùirn m
- Slovak: manžeta f
- Spanish: puño (es) m, ruedo (es) m
- Swedish: manschett (sv) c
- Tagalog: punyos
- Turkish: manşet (tr)
- Ukrainian: манже́та (uk) f (manžéta), обшла́г m (obšláh)
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the end of a pants leg, folded up
Etymology 2
Clipping of handcuff.
Verb
cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)
- (transitive) To handcuff.
- (transitive, slang) To enter into a committed romantic relationship with (someone).
2023 April 3, @SoraWasntHere, Twitter, archived from the original on 23 August 2024:This fr how it be, never cuffing another Latina woman from New York ever again💀
2023 December 14, u/No-Spot2923, “What exactly makes a woman only good enough for sex and flings but not actual commitment?”, in Reddit, r/dating_advice, archived from the original on 23 August 2024:If your promiscuous, men who know females just date around could take advantage of that, plus a lot wouldn't want to cuff a female they know isn't doing pure things.
2024 March 11, u/MobyDukakis, “Being happy single is not celebrated half as much as being a happy couple.”, in Reddit, r/Showerthoughts, archived from the original on 23 August 2024:After my last relationship I was so amped to be happy and single, but it's funny how when you are that it's as if potential SOs gravitate even more. It wasn't too long of that before I naturally got cuffed and I'm happy in a relationship but got damn I do wish I had more time happy and single
2024 May 23, @CzarCule, Twitter, archived from the original on 23 August 2024:Whenever one of my boys cuffs a girl from the club, all I can do is chuckle and shake my head. We all know how it ends.
Etymology 3
1520, “to hit”, apparently of North Germanic origin, from Norwegian kuffa (“to push, shove”) or Swedish kuffa (“to knock, thrust, strike”), from the Proto-Germanic base *skuf- (skuƀ), from Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-, see also Lithuanian skùbti (“to hurry”), Polish skubać (“to pluck”), Albanian humb (“to lose”).
Germanic cognates include Low German kuffen (“to box the ears”), German kuffen (“to thrash”). More at scuff, shove, scuffle.
Verb
cuff (third-person singular simple present cuffs, present participle cuffing, simple past and past participle cuffed)
- (transitive) To hit, as a reproach, particularly with the open palm to the head; to slap.
c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:I swear I'll cuff you, if you strike again.
- (intransitive) To fight; to scuffle; to box.
- To buffet.
Noun
cuff (plural cuffs)
- A blow, especially with the open hand; a box; a slap.
1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:many a bitter kick and cuff