muffin

Definition

A type of flattish bun, usually cut in two horizontally, toasted and spread with butter, etc., before being eaten.

Etymology

From earlier moofin, probably a diminutive of Low German Muffe ("small cake"; Muffen (plural)), from Middle Low German muffe (“small pastry”). An alternative, and phonologically less plausible theory suggests a connection to Old French (pain) moflet (“roll”, literally “soft (bread)”). Sense “vulva” influenced by muff.

Example Sentences

• "[…] but he had still at intervals a kind listener in Mrs. Phillips, and was by her watchfulness, most abundantly supplied with coffee and muffin."
• "We take a less gloomy view of our errors now our father confessor listens to us over his egg and coffee. We are more distinctly conscious that rude penances are out of the question for gentlemen in an enlightened age, and that mortal sin is not incompatible with an appetite for muffins."
• "It was felt at once that the mouth did not come over from Sleswig with a band of Saxon pirates whose lips met like the two halves of a muffin."