Verb (third-person singular simple present muffles, present participle muffling, simple past and past participle muffled)
- To wrap (a person, face etc.) in fabric or another covering, for warmth or protection; often with up.
- To wrap up or cover (a source of noise) in order to deaden the sound.
- to muffle the strings of a drum, or that part of an oar which rests in the rowlock
- To mute or deaden (a sound etc.).
- (intransitive, dated) To speak indistinctly, or without clear articulation.
- (dated) To prevent seeing, or hearing, or speaking, by wraps bound about the head; to blindfold; to deafen.
Origin Middle English muflen "to muffle", aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle"), from moufle (“mitten"), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff"), of Germanic origin ("”first recorded in the Capitulary of Aachen in 817 CE), from Frankish *muffël "a muff, wrap, envelope" from *muff- "sleeve, wrap" (from Proto-Germanic *mawwÅ (“sleeve")) + *vël "skin, hide" (from Proto-Germanic *fellÄ… (“skin, film, fleece"), from Proto-Indo-European *pel(e)(w)-, *plÄ“(w)- (“skin, hide")). Akin to Middle High German mouwe, mÅwe (“sleeve") (German Muff "muff", Dutch mouw "sleeve"). Alternate etymology traces the Medieval Latin word to Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide") from *mol (“softened, forworn") (akin to Old High German molawÄ“n "to soften", Middle High German molwic "soft") + *fell (“hide, skin"). Akin to Old High German fel (“fell, skin, hide"), Old English fell (“fell, skin, hide"). More at mulch, fell, camouflage.
