Also 7–8 trufle, treuffle, 8 troufle. [app. a derivative of Fr. trufe, truffe (1370 in Hatz.-Darm.), Comask. treufol, Genev. trufola, in same sense; of unsettled etymology. According to Diez and Hatz.-Darm., prob. repr. L. tūber-, supposed to have been altered at an early date to *tūfer-, whence *tūfre, trūfe, tuffe. The change of gender has been accounted for by supposing the neuter pl. tūbera to have been treated as a fem. sing. (cf. BIBLE, ARMS); according to Graff tūbera appears as a fem. sing. in some Ger. glossaries of the 9th c. A form without r is found in Swiss Romand and Languedoc tufelle, tufeda. Cr. also the Eng. contraction TRUB.
But this derivation is by no means certain; a longer form appears in It. tartuffo, Milanese tartuffel, Ven. tartuf, tartufola, Piemont tartifla, Rheto-Rumansch tartufe, Languedoc tartifle, Berry tartrufle. These mean ‘potato,’ and have been explained by Miège as = terræ tuber; whence Ger. kartoffel, dial. tartoffel, Icel. tartuflur pl. potatoes. See the word in Diez, Scheler, and Littré.]
Any one of various underground fungi of the family Tuberaceæ; spec. an edible fungus of the genus Tuber, a native of Central and Southern Europe, esteemed as a delicacy; esp. T. æstivum or cibarium, the Common (English) Truffle, and T. melanosporum, the French Truffle, which have a black, warty exterior, and vary in size between that of a walnut and that of a large potato, which they more or less resemble in shape.
1591. Sparry, trans. Cattan’s Geomancie, B ij. The Topas and the Truffle haue power of Chastity, and to subdue the flesh.
1644. Evelyn, Diary, 30 Sept. Here we supped…, having amongst other dainties, a dish of trufles, an earth nut found by an hogg train’d to it.
1691. Ray, Creation, II. (1692), 99. By tying a Cord to the hind-leg of a Pig, and driving him before them … observing where he stops and begins to root,… they are sure to find a Trufle.
1726. Arbuthnot, It cannot rain, etc., 10. A Dog is an Ass to him [Peter the Wild Boy] for finding Troufles.
1742. Pope, Dunc., IV. 558. Thy Truffles, Perigord! thy Hams, Bayonne!
1847. Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins’s Ball, ¶ 17. Such a quantity of goose-liver and truffles.
1866. Treas. Bot., s.v., Applied generally, the name Truffle (or Trubs) comprises all the Fungi which belong to the natural orders Hypogæi and Tuberacei.
fig. 1897. Literature, 20 Nov., 155/1. A thin, ancient-looking octavo,… rooted up with other literary truffles.
b. attrib. and Comb., as truffle-bed, -grower, -hunter, -hunting, etc.; truffle-like, -stuffed adjs.; truffle-beetle, a beetle whose subterranean larvæ feed on the truffle; truffle-dog, -pig, a dog or pig trained to discover truffles; also fig.; truffle-worm, the larva of an insect infesting the truffle: see quots.
1726. Bradley, Gardening, App. 38. No Herb or plant is ever seen to grow upon a Trufflery or *Truffle bed.
1885. F. Whymper, in Girl’s Own Paper, Jan., 169/1. A trained hog, when it has discovered a truffle bed, is immovable.
1899. Sharp, in Cambr. Nat. Hist., VI. v. 222. The larvae of the group Anisotomides are believed to be chiefly subterranean in habits; that of A. cinnamomea feeds on the truffle, and the beetle is known as the *truffle-beetle.
1874. Lisle Carr, Jud. Gwynne, I. iv. 114. As a *truffle-dog noses out the dainty objects of his search.
1899. Hale, Lowell & Friends, xiv. 354. The reader is not necessarily an authority in language. He is a scout or truffle-dog who brings the result of his exploration to the authorities.
1898. Gard. Mag., 3 Sept., 572/2. The Agricultural Society of the Department of the Lot awards prizes at its shows to *truffle growers.
a. 1793. G. White, Observ. Veg., in Selborne, etc. (1837), 487. A *truffle-hunter called on us, having in his pocket several large truffles found in this neighbourhood.
1885. F. Whymper, in Girl’s Own Paper, Jan., 169/1. In Upper Provence a hog trained to *truffle-hunting is worth the equivalent of eight pounds sterling.
1898. P. Manson, Trop. Diseases, xxxvii. 573. Moulded into *truffle-like masses.
1841. Thackeray, Mem. Gormamdising, Wks. 1900, XIII. 589. Fat *truffle-stuffed partridges.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., *Truffle-worms,… a species of fly-worm which is found in Truffles.
1888. Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., s.v., A species of Leiodes deposits its ova in it, which in the pupa state feed upon the substance of the truffle; in this state they are called truffle-worms.
Hence Truffled a., cooked, garnished, or stuffed with truffles; † Trufflery, a truffle-bed; Trufflesque a. (nonce-wd.), resembling that of truffles; Truffling vbl. sb., gathering truffles.
1837. M. Donovan, Dom. Econ., II. 13. The liver and thighs of geese,… made into pies, and properly truffled,… are reckoned a most delicate article.
1902. Elinor Glyn, Refl. Ambrosine, II. viii. Truffled partridge in aspic.
1726. *Trufflery [see truffle-bed above].
1841. Thackeray, Mem. Gormandising, Wks. 1900, XIII. 583. A *trufflesque odour was left in the room. Ibid., 588. Some faint trufflesque savour.
1859. Times, 14 Feb., 5/5. Many of these … people [poor labourers in Wiltshire] live by *truffling and poaching, in the absence of farmer’s employment.
1874. Pall Mall G., 30 June, 10/2. Their livers are being conveyed with all respect and care to the *truffling-house.
