chufa

See also: chufá, chūfā, and chǔfá

English

Chufa

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish chufa, possibly from Latin cȳphi (“gallingale perfume”), from Ancient Greek κῦφι (kûphi, “a kind of Egyptian incense”), from Egyptian kꜣpt (“incense”), a nominal derivative of kꜣp (“to cense”).

Noun

chufa (countable and uncountable, plural chufas)

1. Cyperus esculentus, a species of sedge native to warm temperate to subtropical regions of the Northern Hemisphere having small edible tubers (tiger nuts).
   • 2001, Clifford A. Wright, Mediterranean Vegetables, Harvard Common Press, →ISBN, page 119:

     Chufa is most popular in two places in the Mediterranean, Spain and Egypt (especially around Damietta). In Spain, especially in the region of Valencia, chufa is used to make a drink called horchata.

   • 2004, Harold McGee, chapter 6, in On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, Scribner, →ISBN:

     The chinese water chestnut and the tiger nut, or chufa, are both members of the sedge family, a group of water grasses that includes papyrus.

Synonyms

• chufa sedge, yellow nutsedge, tigernut sedge, earthalmond

Translations

Cyperus esculentus

• Arabic: حَبّ الْعَزِيز‎ m (ḥabb al-ʕazīz), حَبّ الزَلَم‎ m (ḥabb az-zalam)
• Catalan: xufla f
• Esperanto: cipero, termigdalo
• Finnish: maakastanja, maamanteli
• French: souchet (fr) m
• German: Erdmandel f, Tigernuss f (uncommon)
• Hungarian: mandulafű, kávégyökér
• Romanian: migdală-de-pământ f
• Russian: чуфа́ (ru) f (čufá), земляно́й минда́ль m (zemljanój mindálʹ)
• Spanish: chufa (es) f, cuca (es) f
• Swedish: jordmandel (sv) c
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can

Further reading

• Cyperus esculentus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Cyperus esculentus on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Cyperus esculentus on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• fauch

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese chufa (13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria). Back-formation from chufar (“to brag”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃufa̝/

Noun

chufa m (plural chufas)

1. mockery; joke; witty
2. flattery, praise
3. boast, brag

References

• “chufa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006–2022.
• “chufa” in Xavier Varela Barreiro & Xavier Gómez Guinovart: Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval. SLI / Grupo TALG / ILG, 2006–2018.
• “chufa” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “chufa” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “chufa” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.fɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.fɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.fa/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.fɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.fɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃu.fɐ/

• Hyphenation: chu‧fa

Verb

chufa

1. inflection of chufar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃufa/ [ˈt͡ʃu.fa]
• Rhymes: -ufa
• Syllabification: chu‧fa

Etymology 1

Not completely certain. Suggested from Latin cȳphi (“gallingale perfume”), but the continuity of this word is doubtful. Perhaps instead the same word as trufa.

Noun

chufa f (plural chufas)

1. chufa

   Synonyms: cuca, alcatufa

2. tiger nut (edible tuber of that plant)

Descendants

• → English: chufa

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

chufa f (plural chufas)

1. (colloquial) slap in the face

   Synonyms: bofetada, tortazo

2. (archaic, colloquial) lie

   Synonyms: burla, mofa, mentira

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

chufa

1. inflection of chufar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “chufa”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014