buffalo

▪ I. buffalo, n.
    (ˈbʌfələʊ)
    Forms: 6 bufalo, (7 buffolo, boufaleau, -alo, 7–8 buffelo, 8 bufolo), 7– buffalo. pl. buffaloes.
    [a. It. buffalo (Florio), bufalo, bufolo (Baretti), or Pg. b{uacu}falo:—vulgar L. *būfalus, a. Gr. βούβαλος (whence in literary L. būbalus), properly denoting a kind of antelope, but applied to a wild ox. Cf. buffle, buff n.² The early quotations suggest that the word originally came into English from Portuguese.]
    1. The name of several species of Oxen; esp. a. Bos bubalus, originally a native of India, inhabiting most of Asia, southern Europe, and northern Africa. It is tamed in India, Italy, and elsewhere. b. B. caffer, the Cape Buffalo of S. Africa. c. Applied in popular unscientific use to the American bison.

a. 1588 Parke tr. Mendoza's China 181 They doo plough and till their ground with kine, Bufalos, and bulles. 1665 Voy. E. India 359 They have a Beast very large, having a smooth thick skin without hair, called a Buffelo, which gives good milk; the flesh of them is like Beef. 1682 Wheler Journ. Greece i. 74 Drawn..instead of Flanders Mares by a pair of Boufaleaus. 1756 Nugent Gr. Tour Italy III. 214 They..make use of buffalo's in ploughing the land. 1843 Macaulay Lays Anc. Rome, Lake Regillus x, The..banks of Ufens, Where..buffaloes lie wallowing Through the hot summer's day. 1850 Layard Nineveh x. 259 The cattle were..the buffalo and common ox.

b. 1699 Capt. Rogers Descr. Natal in Dampier's Voy. (1705) II. iii. 109 Buffaloes and Bullocks only are kept tame. 1731 Medley Kolben's Cape G. Hope I. 79 They could discover in them [the woods] neither Elephant nor Buffalo, 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. viii. 269 The buffalo is a very..powerful animal..larger than the domestic ox. 1857 Livingstone Trav. iii. 56 The presence of the buffalo..is a certain indication of water..within..seven or eight miles.

c. 1635 Relat. Maryland iii. 23 In the upper parts of the countrey there are Bufeloes, Elkes, Lions, Beares, Wolues, and Deare there are in great Store. 1705 R. Beverley Virginia ii. 39 The Elks, Buffaloes, Deer and greater Game. 1789–96 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 195 This animal [bison] has generally been called the Buffalo, but very improperly. 1836 W. Irving Astoria (1849) 195 Boundless wastes..animated by herds of buffalo. 1877 J. Allen Amer. Bison 456 Probably among the people generally the name buffalo will never be supplanted.

    d. collect.

1765 G. Croghan Jrnl. (1875) 132 The country hereabouts abounds with buffalo, bears, [etc.]. 1817 S. R. Brown Western Gaz. 30 The buffaloe..have lately disappeared. 1895 C. King Fort Frayne xviii. 260 A deep cleft in the foothills through which the buffalo in bygone days had made their way.

    e. (With capital initial.) A member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, founded in 1822 for sociable and benevolent purposes. Hence ˈBuffaloism.

1869 P. Egan Finish Adv. Tom, Jerry, & Logic v. 120 At the Harp, in Great Russel Street, opposite Drury Lane Theatre, the Buffalo Society was first established, in August, 1822. 1879 The Buffalo 16 Jan. 3/3 Bro. Barrett, the Buffalo Bootmaker of Walworth. 1881 (title) The Buffalo Review and Lodge Reporter. 1888 C. Hindley True Hist. Tom & Jerry 162 Buffs—Buffaloes—and Buffaloism.—A society..established in August, 1822, by an eccentric young man of the name of Joseph Lisle, an artist, in conjunction with Mr. W. Sinnett, a comedian, to perpetuate, according to their ideas upon the subject, of that hitherto neglected ballad of We'll chase the Buffalo! 1897 Daily News 16 Mar. 8/3 A room in which certain ‘Buffaloes’ were holding a lodge meeting. 1897 Buffalo World Sept. 3/1 Buffaloism can boast an existence of 300 years at least. 1970 Sunday Times 18 Jan. 52/3 We used to have a branch of the Buffaloes at the pub. Ibid., Her family were very high up in the Buffaloes.

    f. An amphibious tank.

1944 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War Oct. 139 (caption) British troops were carried across the Scheldt in assault craft... This ‘Buffalo’ assault craft is carrying back some of the prisoners taken. 1945 Times 1 Mar. 4/3 The generals..rode in a ‘buffalo’ and inspected it minutely. 1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 13 Feb. 86/2 This division was also the British Army's nursery of the amphibious ‘Buffaloes’ of American origin.

    2. ‘A sort of fresh-water fish resembling the Sucker’ (Bartlett).

1789–96 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 636 In the rivers are plenty of buffaloe, pike and catfish. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 516/2 The ‘buffalo’ and cat-fish..are not unfrequently as large as a man.

    3. = buffalo-robe; see 4. colloq. U.S. & Canada.

1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xv. 181 Leaving all hands under their buffaloes. 1884 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 3 Sept., Asked by the groom if he would like a couple of buffaloes (robes)..‘No’, replied the scientist, ‘we would much prefer horses’.

    4. Short for buffalo-horn: used by cutlers for making handles of pocket-knives; the varieties are black buffalo and grey buffalo or coloured buffalo.
    5. Comb., as buffalo-hide, buffalo-hunt, buffalo-hunter, buffalo-hunting, buffalo-range, buffalo-skin; buffalo-bag (cf. buffalo-robe); buffalo-bean, a milk vetch of the western United States, Astragalus crassicarpus; buffalo-berry, the edible scarlet fruit of a shrub (Shepherdia argentea) found on the Upper Missouri; also the shrub itself; buffalo-bird, an insessorial bird (Textor erythrorhynchus) which accompanies herds of buffaloes in S. Africa; buffalo-chips pl., the dried dung of the American bison, used as fuel; buffalo-clover, a species of clover (Trifolium pennsylvanicum) found in the prairies of N. America; buffalo-fish = sense 2; buffalo fly, gnat, a small biting insect of the genus Simulium; buffalo grass, (a) a kind of grass (Buchloë dactyloides) found in the prairies; also used generally (see quot. 1950); (b) any of various African grasses used for pasture and fodder; (c) Austral. and N.Z., the grass Stenotaphrum americanum, introduced from the United States, and first noticed near Buffalo Creek in New South Wales (Webster 1911); buffalo-horn, (a) the horn of a buffalo; (b) an African tree, Zizyphus mucronata; (c) U.S. (see quot. 1887²); buffalo-nut, the fruit of a N. American shrub (Pyrularia oleifera), also called Oil-nut; also the shrub itself; buffalo-robe, a cloak or rug made of the skin of the American bison dressed with the hair on.

1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xvi. 192 Two large *buffalo-bags, each made of four skins.

1906 P. A. Rydberg Flora of Colorado 202 Geoprumnon... *Buffalo Beans, Ground Plums. 1922 Chambers's Jrnl. 219/1, I..became acquainted with a creeping plant that grows a bean... I have since heard it called buffalo-bean.

1805 Massachusetts Spy 17 July 2/3 (Th.), Scions of a newly discovered berry, called the *buffaloe berry. 1856 Gard. Chron. 174 The felicity of tasting real Buffalo-berries.

1857 Livingstone Trav. xxvii. 545 *Buffalo-birds act the part of guardian spirits to the animals. Ibid. (1861) 357 The leader of the herd was an old cow, carrying on her withers about twenty buffalo-birds.

1840 Picayune 11 Oct. 2 We raised an extensive cloud of smoke from burning ‘*buffalo chips’ to keep off the musquitos. 1859 Marcy Prairie Trav. 268 Buffalo-chips for fuel.

1767 in N. Carolina Col. Rec. VII. 1007 *Buffalow Clover was extremely thick here.

1774 D. Jones Jrnl. (1865) 111 Another kind of fish called *buffaloe fish, many of which are larger than our sheepshead. 1861 Russell in Times 10 July, These..rivers are very fine for..buffalo fish to live in.

1849 C. Lyell Second Visit N. Amer. II. 89 There were swarms of *buffalo flies to torment his horses, and sand flies to sting him and his family. 1932 Discovery July 210/2 The buffalo fly is another extremely serious pest, in this case of the cattle industry.

1822 J. Woods Eng. Prairie 278 We had no *buffalo gnats. 1959 J. Clegg Freshwater Life Brit. Isles (ed. 2) xiv. 235 The Black-flies..under such names as Buffalo Gnats..are only too well known as pests of cattle.

1784 J. Filson Discovery of Kentucke 24 Where no cane grows there is abundance of wild-rye, clover, and *buffalo-grass,..affording excellent food for cattle. 1868 J. Chapman Trav. S. Afr. II. 457 (Pettman), The Buffalo grass has a large, broad, corrugated leaf and is greedily eaten by horses and cattle. 1876 F. M. Bailey in Papers & Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania 1875 132 The Buffalo grass, Stenotaphrum Americanum..is a very fine and desirable species. 1883 Harper's Mag.. Nov. 943/2 The tall jointed grasses replace the short crisp buffalo-grass. 1950 Amer. Speech XXV. 164 The ground is covered with ‘buffalo grass’, which once designated a specific type but now means any tough grass that grows on the poor soil of the plains.

1703 Lond. Gaz. No. 3919/4 A parcel of..*Buffelo-Hides, &c.

1783 W. Fleming in N. D. Mereness Trav. Amer. Col. (1916) 665 We picked up..a petrified *Buffalo horn. 1887 C. A. Moloney Forestry W. Afr. 300 ‘Buffalo-Horn’ (Zizyphus mucronata, Willd.). 1887 Scribner's Mag. II. 507 The latter fixes his attention on the saw-like, serrated crowns, or summits, which are..typical..of true mountainous form. There are plenty of such features in the Rocky Mountains, and natives call them ‘buffalo-horns’.

1810 Z. M. Pike Exped. Sources Mississippi App. ii. 34 Restricting (by edicts) the *buffalo hunts to certain seasons.

1824 A. Ross Jrnl. 28 Mar. in Oregon Hist. Soc. Quart. XIV. 376 The *buffalo hunters came back today, buffalo in plenty; thirty killed.

1775 W. Calk Jrnl. 10 Apr. in Filson Club Pubn. II. 36 Some of the company went over the River a *bufelo hunting but found none.

1857 Gray Botany 382 *Buffalo-nut..[is] a low straggling shrub, with..small greenish flowers.

1775 Adair Hist. Amer. Indians 118 Living very scantily, even in a *buffalo range, under a strict rule, lest by luxury their hearts should grow evil.

1804 Clark in Lewis & C. Exped. (1904) I. 130 The [Sioux] Squars wore Peticoats & a white *Buffalow roabe. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xvi. 193 The sick..were placed upon the bed of buffalo-robes.

1732 S.C. Gazette 25/1 Preparing *Buffelo, Deer, Sheep, Goat or Kid-Skins in Oil.

1835 W. Irving Tour Prairies 145 We passed..a *buffalo track, not above three days old.

▪ II. ˈbuffalo, v. N. Amer. slang.
    [f. the n.]
    trans. To overpower, overawe, or constrain by superior force or influence; to outwit, perplex. So ˈbuffaloed ppl. a.

1903 Cincinnati Enquirer 9 May 13/1 Buffaloed—Bluffed. 1904 N.Y. Even. Post 25 Oct. 10 All the rest [of the newspapers] were what we used to term in the Southwest ‘buffaloed’ by the McKinley myth—that is, silenced by the fear of incurring the resentment of a people taught to regard McKinley as a saint. 1910 W. M. Raine B. O'Connor 77 O'Connor admitted that he was ‘buffaloed’ when he attempted an analysis of his unusual feeling. 1947 E. A. McCourt Flaming Hour 118 Jerry Potts himself would have been buffaloed.

Oxford English Dictionary