Buffalo Meaning
/ˈbʌf.əl.əʊ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn animal from the subtribe Bubalina, also known as true buffalos, such as the Cape buffalo, Syncerus caffer, or the water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis.
nounA related North American animal, the American bison, Bison bison.
Sentence Examples
Is that a cow or a buffalo?
A buffalo is akin to an ox.
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.
CEFR Practice Quiz
We saw a large herd of ____ grazing on the prairie during our road trip.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large herd of ____ was seen crossing the wide grassy plains today.
Word Origin & History
Borrowed from Portuguese or Spanish búfalo (“buffalo”), from Late Latin būfalus, from Latin būbalus, from Ancient Greek βούβαλος (boúbalos, “antelope, wild ox”). Doublet of bubale and buffle.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
""It must be a very wild stretch of country, and full of big game. I have always wanted to kill a buffalo before I die.""
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
"And on this board were frightful swords and knives that are made in a great cavern by swinking demons out of white flames that they fix in the horns of buffalos and stags that there abound marvellously."
— 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
"From the Indians who welcomed the pilgrims / And to the buffaloes who once ruled the plain / Like the vultures / Circling beneath the dark clouds / Looking for the rain / Well, they've been looking for the rain"
— 1974, Gil Scott-Heron, “Winter in America”, in Winter in America:
"The feuds between Namsang and Borduria continued. In 1875-76 the dispute between the Namsang and Borduria arose about the buffaloes which were carried off by Borduria people from Namsang areas."
— 2015, “Arunachal Pradesh”, in H. M. Bareh, editor, Encyclopaedia Of North-East India, 1st edition, Mittal Publications, →ISBN, archived from the original on 11 Nov 2022, page 72:
"I'm just gonna let you have it. Probably in the midst of a kiss. Right when you think everything’s been healed up. Right in the moment when you're sure you've got me buffaloed. That's when you'll die."
— 1983, Sam Shepard, Fool for Love, San Francisco: City Lights Books, page 20:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
We saw a large herd of ____ grazing on the prairie during our road trip.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
A large herd of ____ was seen crossing the wide grassy plains today.