c. 1600, fisty cuffes, from fist (n.) + cuff (n.) "a blow" (see cuff (v.2)), with the form perhaps in imitation of handiwork. Related: Fisticuff.
Entries linking to fisticuffs
fist n.
Old English fyst "fist, clenched hand," from West Germanic *fusti- (source also of Old Saxon fust, Old High German fust, Old Frisian fest, Middle Dutch vuust, Dutch vuist, German Faust), from Proto-Germanic *funhstiz, probably ultimately from a PIE "hand" word that is ultimately cognate with the root *penkwe- "five" (compare Old Church Slavonic pesti, Russian piasti "fist"), in reference to the five fingers.
Meaning "a blow with the fist" is from 1767. Fist-fight "duel with the fists" is from c. 1600. As a verb, Old English had fystlian "to strike with the fist."
cuff v.2
"to strike with or as with the open hand," 1520s, of unknown origin, perhaps from Swedish kuffa "to thrust, push." Related: Cuffed; cuffing. As a noun, "a blow with the open hand," from 1560s.