A variant spelling of dandruff; small white flakes of dead skin that fall from the scalp.
An older or alternative spelling of dandruff. Dandruff itself comes from Middle English 'dandro' or 'dandrer' (possibly from Old Norse 'hnofi' meaning 'scab') + Middle English 'huffe' (meaning 'scurf'). The word evolved into different spellings like dandriff, dandruff, and dandriffy over centuries.
Dandriff shows how inconsistent English spelling was before standardization. Different people spelled this word different ways—dandriff, dandruff, dandref—and gradually dandruff won out. It's a reminder that 'correct spelling' is just 'the spelling we all agreed on eventually.'
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