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