Where does “buffoonery” come from?
Buffoonery comes from English buffoon, derived from Middle French bouffon, from Italian buffone, ultimately from Italian buffare meaning to puff or swell, with Latin nominal suffixes -ārius and -us.
buffoonery (English): The behaviour expected of a buffoon; foolishness,...
Definitions
- The behaviour expected of a buffoon; foolishness,...
Ancestry of “buffoonery”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | -ery | Added to nouns to form other nouns meaning the... |
| 2 | French | -erie | denoting a shop selling a certain product;... |
| 3 | Old French | -erie | used to form feminine nouns |
| 4 | Old French | -ie | indicates a feminine noun, often an abstract one |
| 5 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 6 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |