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Miss Muffet sitting on a tuffet, or grassy mound, by John Everett Millais, 1884

An Arthur Rackham illustration of 1913

A tuffet is a grassy hillock, a small knoll or mound.

'Tuffet' is now known overwhelmingly from the nursery rhyme "Little Miss Muffet" which was first printed in 1805. It was originally a variant of the word "tuft" (e.g. of leaves or flowers), a usage which dates back at least to the 16th century.

Later, perhaps due to misunderstanding of the rhyme, 'tuffet' also came to mean a low seat.

Origins

Recorded examples of 'tuffet' with the meaning 'tuft' (for example a cluster of short-stalked leaves or flowers growing from a common point) date back to 1553. Merriam-Webster suggests that tuffet derives from the Anglo-French tuffete, from 'tufe', meaning 'tuft'.

Uncertain meaning

Since the rhyme provides little context, several writers have expressed confusion about the meaning of 'tuffet'. In 1902, Samuel M. Crothers remarked, "Perhaps some of you would like to know what a tuffet is. I have thought of that myself, and have taken the trouble to ask several learned persons. They assure me that the most complete and satisfactory definition is,—a tuffet is the kind of thing that Miss Muffet sat on."

Illustrations

Many illustrators have shown Miss Muffet sitting on a mound or hillock, including John Everett Millais (1884) and Arthur Rackham (1913).