Where does “buffel” come from?
buffel (Afrikaans) comes from Dutch buffel, from Middle Dutch buffel, from Old French buffle, from Italian bufalo, from Vulgar Latin bufalus, from Latin būbalus, from Ancient Greek βούβαλος, from Ancient Greek βοῦς — army.
buffel (Afrikaans): Cape buffalo
Ancestry of “buffel”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | buffel | A buffalo, one of some mammals of the subfamily... |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | buffel | — |
| 3 | Old French | buffle | — |
| 4 | Italian | bufalo | buffalo |
| 5 | Vulgar Latin | bufalus | — |
| 6 | Latin | būbalus | — |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | βούβαλος | A species of antelope, possibly the bubal... |
| 8 | Ancient Greek | βοῦς | cow, ox, cattle; shield: ὃτι ἐκ βοείων ἐστι... |
| 9 | Latin | corvus | A raven; a bird associated with prophecy and... |
| 10 | Proto-Italic | korwos | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱorh₂wós | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱer- | to grow, to make grow, to nourish; to plait,... |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | kr̥- | to turn, to bend |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-European | ker- | army |