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buffet

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Etymology and origin of the English word buffet

buffet1 blow, to strike

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
c. 1200 Ancrene Riwle
Borrowed from
Old French buffet via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Old French buffe

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbʌfɪt/, /ˈbʌfət/[1]

Etymology

The blow is inherited from Middle English buffet, also bofet,[2] borrowed from Old French buffet, also bufet,[3][4][5][6] a diminutive of buffe (“a blow, slap; puff of wind”),[4][7][8][5][9] the source of buff1 "a blow".[3][9] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from the second half of the 12th century.[10] Barnhart calls buffe of uncertain origin and cites Bloch and Wartburg, for whom the sense "blow, slap" may be onomatopoeic;[5] Etymonline and Hoad take it as imitative of the sound of something soft being struck,[4][6] and Weekley compares German puffen (“to jostle”).[11] The verb is inherited from Middle English buffeten,[2][7] borrowed from Old French buffeter (“to strike, slap”),[4][7][8][5] itself from the noun;[4][5] the OED takes the English verb as formed from the noun, comparing the French verb.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A blow struck with the fist or hand, and to strike so: both probably before 1200 in the Ancrene Riwle,[5] whose manuscript the OED dates to about 1225.[3] The MED also quotes the early 13th-century Wooing of Our Lord: "Alle þa buffetes and ta bali duntes þat tu þoledest".[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English a buffet could also be a stroke with a weapon.[2] From about 1400, in Cleanness, it was used figuratively of anything that strikes like a blow.[3][2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "a blow with the fist; a box on the ear" and quoted Hamlet on "fortune's buffets and rewards".[12] Shakespeare used the verb for beating back the waves and, intransitively, for fighting or struggling;[3] from 1734 it meant to force a way by buffeting.[3] From 1753 bell-ringers spoke of buffeting bells, that is muffling them, perhaps from a separate source.[3] In 1951 the noun entered aeronautics for the shaking of an aircraft by the airflow.[3][7][8] In some Midland dialects it meant a blow with something soft, such as a handkerchief in a game of forfeits.[13]

Timeline

  • before 1200 – noun, a blow, and verb, to strike, in the Ancrene Riwle.[5][3]
  • c. 1400 – figurative, a blow of fortune.[3]
  • before 1593 – the verb used figuratively.[3]
  • before 1616 – to contend with waves; to fight or struggle.[3]
  • 1734 – to drive or force by buffeting.[3]
  • 1753 – to muffle bells.[3]
  • 1951 – aeronautics, the shaking of an aircraft.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A blow, especially one struck with the hand; a slap or cuff.[7][8][3]
  2. A heavy blow from any source, as of wind or waves, or a misfortune: the buffets of a hard life.[7][3]
  3. (aeronautics) The shaking of an aircraft caused by disturbed airflow; buffeting.[7][8][3]

Verb

  1. To strike repeatedly; to batter: Gales buffeted the island for three days.[7][8][3]
  2. To strike with the hand; to cuff or slap.[7][3]
  3. To struggle against: The swimmers buffeted the waves.[7][3]
  4. To force one's way, or move something, by blows or pushing: He buffeted his way through the crowd.[7][3]

Word family

  • buffeter
  • buffeting

buffet2 sideboard; self-service meal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1718 Memoirs of the Life of John Kettlewell
Borrowed from
French buffet

Pronunciation

  • /ˈbʊfeɪ/, /ˈbʌfeɪ/, /bəˈfeɪ/[1]

Etymology

The sideboard is borrowed from French buffet,[3][5][4][6][7] from Old French bufet (“bench, stool, sideboard”), recorded in the 12th century,[4][14][15] which is of unknown or uncertain origin.[3][4][6][9][16] Weekley notes that in the 13th century the Old French word was used of a bench for displaying goods.[11] Barnhart allows an Italian source, and Weekley compares Italian buffetto;[5][11] Barnhart also reports the suggestion that it is a special use of buffet (“a blow”), in some dialects "bellows", but finds no clear link in meaning.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sideboard or side table for displaying china and plate: 1718.[3][5][4] Merriam-Webster dates its first known use to 1707.[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 18th century the word was often spelt beaufet or beaufait, for no clear reason;[3][11] the spelling beaufet survived in dialect for a corner cupboard with glass doors.[13] By about 1720 it also meant a recessed cupboard for china and glasses.[3] From 1792 it was a refreshment bar,[3][4] and in 1887, first in the United States, a railway carriage with such a bar.[3][4] In 1888 Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management used collocations such as buffet supper for refreshments laid out on the sideboard,[3] and Barnhart dates the sense of a meal at which guests serve themselves to the late 1800s.[5] Merriam-Webster dates the adjective "served informally" to 1898.[7]

Timeline

  • 1707 – first known use in Merriam-Webster.[7]
  • 1718 – a sideboard for china and plate.[3][5]
  • before 1720 – a cupboard in a recess for china and glasses.[3]
  • 1792 – a refreshment bar.[3][4]
  • 1887 – a railway buffet car.[3][4]
  • 1888 – buffet supper and similar meals.[3]
  • 1898 – adjective, served informally, as from a buffet.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A meal at which guests serve themselves from dishes set out on a table: We had a buffet after the wedding.[17][8][3]
  2. A counter or room where light meals and drinks are sold, especially at a station; a buffet car.[17][7][3]
  3. A sideboard.[17][7][3]
  4. A cupboard or set of shelves for displaying china and glass.[7][3]

Adjective

  1. Served so that people help themselves: a buffet breakfast.[7][17]

Word family

  • buffet car

Usage notes

Buffet was also a low stool or footstool, recorded from 1432 and now only Scottish and northern English;[3][8][13] the MED quotes it earlier, in a Latin document of before 1200.[2] The OED treats it as of unknown origin, noting that it is usually assumed to come from the French word for the sideboard, which never had that meaning.[3] In the sense of a piece of furniture Collins also gives the pronunciation /ˈbʌfɪt/.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ 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 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ a b c d Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c 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)
  14. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  15. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  16. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  17. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Buffet.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/buffet. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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