English

Etymology

Yiff was originally invented by LittleFox as part of a range of onomatopoetic words that form the fox-ese language of the Furry rôle-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 adopted the 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.

References

• LittleFox's own explanation of the etymology of "Yiff", Everything2, accessed on 2005-03-30

Usage note

The term is 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.

Interjection

yiff!

1. Representing a bark (of a fox)

Interrogative

yiff?

1. "Anyone willing/desiring to have sex?"
2. "Are you willing/desiring to have sex?"

Verb

yiff (yiffing yiffed)

1. to have sex, to mate

   quotations

   • "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'." — [1]
   • "Is mated, and not allowed to yiff without permission" — [2]
   • "And even if foxes are allowed to yiff more than once, I'd still have to wait for the vixen to come into heat." — [3]
   • "Well, i've witnessed male foxes queueing up to yiff one of my local vixens... repeatedly!" — [4]

2. (Internet) to have cybersex

   quotations

   • "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." — [5]

3. (Internet) to talk, to chat in a chat room

Noun

yiff (yiffs)

1. sexual intercourse, the act of yiffing
2. a bark, a "yiff!"

Adjective

yiff (yiffer yiffest)

1. sexy, sexual, arousing
2. pornographic
3. capable of sexual intercourse
4. willing to have sexual intercourse

Derived words

• yiffy
• yiffer
• yiffable

References

• "Yiff", A Furry Glossary
• Definition of "yiff", Furtopia