fufu

See also: fufú, fúfu, fūfù, and foo-foo

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfuːˌfuː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfuˌfu/

• Audio (Nigeria):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːfuː
• Hyphenation: fu‧fu

Etymology 1

A plate of fufu (etymology 1, noun sense 1)

From West African languages, such as Lingala fufú (“white-white”).

Alternative forms

• foofoo, foo-foo, foufou

Noun

fufu (uncountable)

2. A dish of boiled, mashed cassava mixed with plantain, yams, or other starchy vegetables, common as food in West and Equatorial Africa and the Caribbean, and sometimes sold in dry powdered or granulated form.

   Synonym: (Caribbean) choke-me

   • [1987 July 29, Steven Barboza, “Culinary Delights of Africa Reflect a Continent's Diversity”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Africans generally serve highly seasoned stews with a starch - corn, millet, yams, cassava or rice - which they mash and whip to a paste, called fufu in West Africa. This is topped with a sauce known as palava.]

   • 2018, Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, HarperVoyager, page 192:

     “I want some real food,” Binta angrily said. “Like fufu and egusi soup.”

References

• Frederic Gomes Cassidy and Robert Brock Le Page (editors), Dictionary of Jamaican English, Second Edition, University of the West Indies Press (2002), page 185.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Japanese ふふ (fufu, onomatopoeia for laughter).

Interjection

fufu

1. (fandom slang, chiefly in translations of Japanese works) Alternative form of fufufu (onomatopoeia for laughter; especially a snicker).

Bura

Noun

fufu

1. lungs

References

• Schuh, Russel G.; Shalanguwa, Elisha. Bura-English-Hausa Dictionary

Ewe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fù.fù/, [f͈ù.f͈ù]

Noun

fùfù

1. fufu (a dish of boiled, mashed cassava mixed with plantain, yams, or other starchy vegetables)

References

• Jim-Fugar, Dr. M.K.N.; Jim-Fugar, Nicholine (2017), “fufu”, in Nuseline's Ewe-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Togo: Independently published, →ISBN, page 85

Gullah

Alternative forms

• 'fufu

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fu.fu/

Etymology 1

From Ewe, Mende (Sierra Leone), Wolof, Fon, and Hausa fufu.

Noun

fufu

1. mush
2. cooked wheat flour (especially from a thin batter)

Etymology 2

From Ewe fufu and Mende (Sierra Leone) fufule.

Noun

fufu

1. dust
2. powder (especially when used for Hoodoo workings)

References

• Lorenzo Dow Turner, Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect (1969)

Japanese

Romanization

fufu

1. Rōmaji transcription of ふふ

Kituba

Noun

fufu

1. flour of cassava

Kongo

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Bantu *pʊ̀pʊ̀.

Noun

fufu

1. flour

Krio

Etymology

From any of various African languages that share this word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fù.fú/

Noun

fùfú

1. fufu (a dish of boiled, mashed cassava mixed with plantain, yams, or other starchy vegetables)

References

• Fyle, Clifford N.; Jones, Eldred D. (1980), A Krio-English dictionary, USA: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 116

Manado Malay

Etymology

From North Moluccan Malay fufu, from Ternate fufu (“to roast; to smoke”).

Verb

fufu

1. to smoke

Adjective

fufu

1. smoked

   cakalang fufu ― smoked skipjack tuna

Derived terms

• bafufu

References

• Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara (2021), Kamus Dwibahasa Melayu Manado-Indonesia (in Indonesian), Manado: Balai Bahasa Provinsi Sulawesi Utara