English

Etymology
Yiff was originally invented by LittleFox? as part of a range of onomatopoetic words that form the fox-ese language of the w:Furry|Furry role-playing community: yiff, yip, yerf, yaff, yarf, growf, and growlf (in order from most positive connotations to most negative connotations). Yiff meant "yes" or an exuberant "hello!". Later, yiff was assigned a meaning of a sexual proposition, a meaning that had previously been assigned to yipp (a coarse form of yip).

Other claimed etymologies include:
onomatopoetic word for the sound of a fox mating. This etymology is unsubstantiated and appears to be apocryphal.
Sense 3 of YIFF. This is apparently a backronym.

Interjection
rfc-level|Interjection at L4+ not in L3 POS section
en-intj

1. onomat Representing a bark (of a fox.)
2. context|furry jargon|interrogative "Anyone willing/desiring to have sex?"
3. context|furry jargon|interrogative "Are you willing/desiring to have sex?"

Verb
en-verb|yiff

1. context|furry jargon To have sex, to mate.

#:quotations
#:*1997:"Monsters snicker at me, succubi refuse to be seen with me, my dog tries to yiff my leg, shopkeepers say 'No shirt, no shoes, no service'." — cite newsgroup|titleWhat to genocide|newsgrouprec.games.roguelike.nethack|authorStarChaser|date1997-10-17|[email protected]|urlhttp://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.nethack/msg/e39bb0ed0ff65dde
#:*1999:"Is mated, and not allowed to yiff without permission" — ¹
#:*1997:"And even if foxes are allowed to yiff more than once, I'd still have to wait for the vixen to come into heat." — cite newsgroup|titleHypothetical Question #3: acting natural|newsgroupalt.lifestyle.furry|authorLocandez|date1997-09-22|[email protected]|urlhttp://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.lifestyle.furry/msg/7379c910ef0f6087
#:*1997:"Well, i've witnessed male foxes queueing up to yiff one of my local vixens... repeatedly!" — cite newsgroup|titleHypothetical Question #3: acting natural|authorMegaDog the Nettweiler|newsgroupalt.lifestyle.furry|date1997-09-23|id1d3DsMAQZ$J0Ew2R?@canismajor.demon.co.uk|urlhttp://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.lifestyle.furry/msg/ba6553234d3b2320

1. context|slang|Internet To have cybersex.

#:quotations
#:*1996:"Of course the inverse is possible with all these possibilities, and you can be having a yiff with a partner in the room with you and be having a pleasant non-sexual conversation with another remote player through a page-conversation." — cite newsgroup|titleRFC: A Beginner's Guide to TinySex? on the FurryMuck?|authorj.serdy|date1996-07-14|newsgroupalt.fan.furry|[email protected]|urlhttp://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.fan.furry/msg/4e094a46fba477cd

1. context|slang|internet To talk, to chat in a chat room.

Noun
en-noun|yiff|s

1. context|furry jargon sexual intercourse, the act of yiffing.
2. context|furry jargon A bark, a "yiff!"

Adjective
en-adj|yiff|er|est

1. context|furry jargon sexy, sexual, arousing
2. context|furry jargon pornographic

#:quotations
#:*2003:"Of course if someone wants to pay a bunch of money for crappy yiff art sometimes too, well, that's between them and the artist, ain't it?" — cite newsgroup|titleHyper inflated art prices?!?!?!|newsgroupalt.fan.furry|authorDr. Cat|date2003-08-09|[email protected]|urlhttp://groups.google.com./group/alt.fan.furry/msg/34324db98febd884
#:*2002:"Neither one of us does anything even remotely related to yiff art, and we intend to keep it that way." — cite newsgroup|titleLore Fitzgerald Sjöberg's new site hits the Savage/furry issue|newsgroupalt.fan.furry|authorPegasus316|date2002-08-24|[email protected]|urlhttp://groups.google.com./group/alt.fan.furry/msg/1d8f30b02efdb7b7

1. context|furry jargon capable of sexual intercourse
2. context|furry jargon willing to have sexual intercourse

Derived terms
yiffy
yiffer
yiffable

Usage notes
The term is not to be confused with the acronym YIFF, although a backronym has been created for that (sense 3) in an attempt to explain the etymology of yiff.

References
"Yiff", A Furry Glossary
Definition of "yiff", Furtopia
LittleFox's own explanation of the etymology of "Yiff", Everything2, accessed on 2005-03-30

Middle English

Etymology 1
From OE. gif|Ä¡if.

Conjunction
infl|enm|conjunction

1. if

Quotations
"Yiff ther was lak, thou woldest crie & pleyne." — Fall of Princes, w:John Lydgate|John Lydgate
"And yiff that trust with pryncis wil nat tarie,<br>Litil merueile thouh the peeple varie.." &mdash; Fall of Princes, w:John Lydgate|John Lydgate
"[...] That yiff that god that hevene and erthe made<br>Wolde haue a love For beaute and goodness<br>And womanhede and trouthe and semelynesse [...]" &mdash; w:Geoffrey Chaucer|Geoffrey Chaucer

Etymology 2
From OE. giefan.

Verb
infl|enm|verb

1. give

Quotations
1393:"Another ordre to you yiff I shall,<br>A knyght will you mak of full hye degre<br>As your brethren ben named ryght roiall." &mdash; Roman de Melusine, Jean d'Arras

ru:yiff
zh:yiff

• 2008-01-02 23:23 - Robert Ullmann - rv last good

Full Revision History