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Etymology and origin of the English word buffer

English has several nouns spelled buffer: a slang word for a fellow, the device that softens a blow, and a polisher, as well as an obsolete word for a stammerer.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbʌfə/[4]
  • US: /ˈbʌfəɹ/[4]

buffer1 fellow

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1749
Ultimate origin
English buff,-er

Etymology

The fellow is of unknown origin.[1][3] Hoad and Ayto think it is probably formed from English buff + -er from an imitative base meaning to blow, puff or make the sound of a soft blow,[5][6] which in Middle English gave buffer, a stammerer (a1382, in the Wycliffite Bible),[1][7] and in dialect "soft fellow".[5] The Oxford Dictionary of English connects it with dialect buff, to stutter or splutter.[8] Klein thinks the meaning was influenced by buffoon,[9] and the OED compares an older word for a foolish person.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fellow, usually with a touch of contempt: 1749, in a burlesque translation of Homer by "Henry Fitzcotton".[1][3]

Semantic evolution

The word was used especially of a genial, old-fashioned or foolish man, often old buffer (1827 in Green's).[10][11] In Scots and English dialect, from Aberdeenshire to Sussex, a buffer was a fool or dolt.[12][1] The thieves' slang of the early 19th century also used it for a dog (1819) and, in Scott's Redgauntlet, for a pistol (1824).[1][10] In the Royal Navy it has meant a chief boatswain's mate or petty officer since 1864.[1][3]

Timeline

  • a1382 – a stammerer (obsolete).[1]
  • 1749 – a fellow.[1][3]
  • 1819 – (slang) a dog.[1]
  • 1824 – (slang) a pistol.[1]
  • 1827 – old buffer, a genial old fool.[10]
  • 1864 – (nautical) a chief boatswain's mate.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. (informal, chiefly British) A man, especially an old-fashioned or incompetent one, usually old buffer.
  2. (nautical slang) A chief boatswain's mate in the Royal Navy.

buffer2 shock absorber; something that cushions

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1835
Ultimate origin
English buff,-er

Etymology

The device is apparently formed from English buff + -er,[1][13][3] from the obsolete verb meaning "to make a dull sound when struck", recorded before 1550,[2][13] probably imitative.[14][8] Barnhart and Etymonline derive that verb from a Middle English noun buff, a blow (about 1420), perhaps borrowed from bufe (“a blow, slap”),[2][13] which Anglo-Norman has from 1165–80.[15] Weekley compares Puffer, used in the same sense.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device for deadening the force of a collision, such as the spring-loaded pads fixed in pairs at the ends of railway carriages: 1835, in a patent specification.[1][2][13]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense, anything that lessens the shock between opposing forces, is from 1858,[1][13] and gave buffer state, a country lying between two rivals.[1] Weekley notes that French translates it as état tampon.[7][1] Chemistry took the word in 1914 for a substance that keeps a solution's acidity steady, biology in 1939, and computing in 1948 for a memory device that holds data temporarily.[1] The verb buffer, to lessen the impact of, is dated 1894 by the OED, 1886 by Etymonline and 1845 by Merriam-Webster;[1][13][3] chemists used it from 1923.[1]

Timeline

  • 1835 – a shock-absorbing device.[1][13]
  • 1858 – something that softens a clash, as in buffer state.[1][13]
  • 1894 – verb, to lessen the impact of (1886 in Etymonline).[1][13]
  • 1914 – (chemistry) a substance that resists changes in acidity.[1]
  • 1948 – (computing) a temporary memory store.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Either of a pair of spring-loaded pads at the ends of a railway vehicle or at the end of a track, which absorb the shock of contact.
  2. A person or thing that protects against harm or lessens a shock: Savings act as a buffer against hard times.
  3. A country or zone lying between two hostile powers, as in buffer state.
  4. (chemistry) A solution or substance that resists changes in acidity or alkalinity.
  5. (computing) A temporary memory area that holds data while it is being transferred.

Verb

  1. To lessen the impact of something; to cushion or protect.
  2. (chemistry) To treat a solution with a buffer.
  3. (computing) To hold data in a buffer.

Word family

  • buffered
  • buffer zone
  • buffer state

buffer3 polisher

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1854
Ultimate origin
English buff,-er

Etymology

The polisher is formed from English buff + -er,[1][2][11] from the verb meaning "to polish with a buff".[1] Barnhart notes that the noun is recorded about 30 years before the verb, so the verb's record must be incomplete.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A machine used in photography for polishing daguerreotype plates: 1854.[1][2]

Semantic evolution

From 1882 the word was used for a worker who buffs knives, plate and similar goods, and in 1902 for a farrier's tool with a blunt chisel for removing nails from a hoof.[1][3]

Timeline

  • 1854 – a machine for polishing plates.[1][2]
  • 1882 – a worker who buffs metal.[1]
  • 1902 – a farrier's tool.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person or device that polishes something, such as a padded buffing wheel.
  2. A farrier's tool for cutting off and driving out the nails of a horseshoe.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  7. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  8. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  11. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  15. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
Cite this entry

“Buffer.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/buffer. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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