# cuff

> English word · Noun · IPA /kʌf/ · frequency rank #14,730

## Definitions
1. Glove; mitten
2. The end of a shirt sleeve that covers the wrist.
3. The end of a pants leg when folded up.
4. A surgical procedure in which parts of the body that were not previously connected are stitched together.

## Etymology
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”).

## Easily confused with
- **cut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cut)
- **cup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cup)
- **cum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cum)
- **cuz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cuz)
- **cur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cur)
- **Cui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cui)
- **cute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cute)
- **cuts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cuts)
- **cure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cure)
- **cups** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cups)
- **cult** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cult)
- **cunt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cunt)
- **curb** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-curb)
- **curl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-curl)
- **curt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-curt)
- **cusp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cusp)
- **cull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cull)
- **curd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-curd)
- **cuss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cuss)
- **cums** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cuff-vs-cums)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ccuff`, `cfuf`, `cuf`, `ucff`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cuff