any of several alcidine sea birds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda, having a short neck and a large, compressed, grooved bill, as F. arctica(Atlantic puffin), of the North Atlantic.
Origin: 1300–50; ME poffoun, poffin, puffon (cf. AL poffo, puffo); orig. uncert.
N. Atlantic seabird, 1337, perhaps connected with puff on notion of appearance, or from some Celtic word (earliest association is with Cornwall and Scilly), and altered by influence of puff.
[puhf-in] 
