Meaning

noun an external body part consisting of feathers or hair about the neck of a bird or other animal

noun a high tight collar

noun common Eurasian sandpiper; the male has an erectile neck ruff in breeding season

originFrom Old French roffle, rouffle (earlier romfle, ronfle), or from Italian ronfa (“card game similar to whist”); these words are possibly from Old French triomphe (“a triumph, victory”), Italian trionfo (“triumph; trump card”), from Latin triumphus (“hymn to Bacchus; celebration, triumph”), ultimately from Ancient Greek θρῐ́ᾰμβος (thrĭ́ămbos, “hymn to Dionysius, thriambus”). The verb is derived…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0