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puffin

 - 3 dictionary results

puf⋅fin

  [puhf-in]
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–noun
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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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puf·fin   (pŭf'ĭn)   
n.  Any of several sea birds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda of northern regions, characteristically having black and white plumage and a vertically flattened, triangular bill that is brightly colored during breeding season.

[Middle English poffoun, puffon, perhaps from puf, puff; see puff.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

puffin 
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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