English
buffer
From buff + -er.
Formed from buff + -er
Ancient Greek βούβαλος ‘an antelope, possibly a bubal hartebeest’
…
Italian bufalo ‘buffalo’
Old French bufle
Middle French buffle
English buffe ‘leather’
English buff
Another origin of buffer
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400buffe‘blow’
- English1500–presentbuff‘make a dull sound when struck’
- Englishtodaybuffer
The “boatswain's mate” sense is said to be popularly explained by the mate being a “buffer”, that is intermediary, between officers and men, but various other explanations have also been proposed.
Today it means
noun A machine with rotary brushes, passed over a hard floor to clean it.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / buffer