Where does “bufflehead” come from?

bufflehead (English) comes from English head, from English -y, from Middle English -y, from Old English -iġ, from Proto-West Germanic -g, from Proto-Germanic -gaz, from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos — -y, -ic.

bufflehead (English): A duck in the goldeneye genus, "Bucephala...

Definitions

  1. A duck in the goldeneye genus, "Bucephala...

Ancestry of “bufflehead”, step by step

bufflehead traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English head

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishheadThe part of the body of an animal or human which...
2English-yAdded to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives...
3Middle English-yDesignates an adjective, in many cases formed by...
4Old English-iġ-y, -ic
5Proto-West Germanic-gForms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a...
6Proto-Germanic-gaz-y
7Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

via English buffle

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbuffleA buffalo; To puzzle; to be at a loss
2Middle Frenchbufflebuffalo

Words derived from “bufflehead”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →Every word from English -y →Every word from Old English -iġ →