# buffet
## English
### Etymology 1

Inherited from Middle English buffet (“stool”), from Middle French buffet (“side table”), from Old French buffet, of unknown origin. The modern pronunciation is remodelled after modern French buffet.

#### Alternative forms

* beaufet (archaic)

#### Pronunciation

* (UK) enPR: bo͝o'fā, bŭ'fā; IPA: /ˈbʊ.feɪ/, /ˈbʌ.feɪ/
* (US) enPR: bəfā', IPA: /bəˈfeɪ/, /bʌˈfeɪ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: (US) -eɪ

#### Noun

buffet (plural buffets)
* A counter or sideboard from which food and drinks are served or may be bought.
    Synonyms: sideboard, smorgasbord, (obsolete) cupboard
** 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], “A Court Ball”, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC, page 9:They stayed together during three dances, went out on to the terrace, explored wherever they were permitted to explore, paid two visits to the buffet, and enjoyed themselves much in the same way as if they had been school-children surreptitiously breaking loose from an assembly of grown-ups.
* Food laid out in this way, to which diners serve themselves.
    Synonyms: buffet meal, smorgasbord
    We'll be serving supper buffet style.
* A small low stool; a hassock.

##### Derived terms

* autobuffet
* buffet bowling
* buffet car
* buffeteria
* finger buffet
* fork buffet
* scatter buffet
* tea buffet

##### Descendants

* → Japanese: ビュッフェ (byuffe)
* → Korean: 뷔페 (bwipe)

##### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### Etymology 2

From Middle English buffet (“buffet”), from Old French buffet, diminutive of buffe, cognate with Italian buffetto. See buffer, buffoon, and compare German puffen (“to jostle, to hustle”).

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: bŭfʹĭt, IPA: /ˈbʌf.ɪt/, /ˈbʌf.ət/
* Audio (Southern England):(file)
* Audio (Southern England):(file)

#### Noun

buffet (countable and uncountable, plural buffets)
* (countable) A blow or cuff with or as if with the hand, or by any other solid object or the wind.
    Synonyms: blow, (by any solid object) collision, (with the hand) cuff
** 1805, Walter Scott, “(please specify the page)”, in The Lay of the Last Minstrel: A Poem, London: […] [James Ballantyne] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], and A[rchibald] Constable and Co., […], →OCLC:On his cheek a buffet fell.
** October 30, 1795, Edmund Burke, letter to Lord Auckland
    those planks of tough and hardy oak that used for years to brave the buffets of the Bay of Biscay
** 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter VII and XIV:Kipper stood blinking, as I had sometimes seen him do at the boxing tourneys in which he indulged when in receipt of a shrewd buffet on some tender spot like the tip of the nose.
* (aviation, uncountable) The vibration of an aircraft when flying in or approaching a stall, caused by separation of airflow from the aircraft's wings.
** 1979 December 21, National Transportation Safety Board, “Aircraft and Flightcrew Performance”, in Aircraft Accident Report: American Airlines, Inc., DC-10-10, N110AA, Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois, May 25, 1979‎, archived from the original on 17 August 2022, page 54:The aircraft configuration was such that there was little or no warning of the stall onset. The inboard slats were extended, and therefore, the flow separation from the stall would be limited to the outboard segment of the left wing and would not be felt by the left horizontal stabilizer. There would be little or no buffet. The DFDR also indicated that there was some turbulence, which could have masked any aerodynamic buffeting. Since the roll to the left began at V$_2$ + 6 and since the pilots were aware that V$_2$ was well above the aircraft's stall speed, they probably did not suspect that the roll to the left indicated a stall. In fact, the roll probably confused them, especially since the stickshaker had not activated.

##### Derived terms

* pluck-buffet

### Etymology 3

From Middle English buffeten, from Old French buffeter, from the noun (see above).

#### Pronunciation

* enPR: bŭfʹĭt, IPA: /ˈbʌf.ɪt/, /ˈbʌf.ət/

#### Verb

buffet (third-person singular simple present buffets, present participle buffeting or buffetting, simple past and past participle buffeted or buffetted)
* (transitive) To strike with a buffet; to cuff; to slap.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 26:67:They spit in his face and buffeted him.
* (transitive, figurative) To aggressively challenge, denounce, or criticise.
** 1977 August 20, Robert Etherington, “John Horne Burns and His Enemies”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 7, page 10:Is Burns obscure because he was gay and therefore ignorable until the Gay Rights Movement began? Or does he largely deserve his neglect? An answer requires that one examine not only Burns' books, but also the critical environment in which he was much buffeted — which, we are told, drove him to an early grave.
** 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, “British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2013:Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members.
* To affect as with blows; to strike repeatedly; to strive with or contend against.
    to buffet the billows
** 1726, William Broome, epistle to Elijah Fenton:The sudden hurricane in thunder roars, / Buffets the bark, and whirls it from the shores.
** 1830, Joseph Plumb Martin, “Ch. I”, in A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier:[...] I buffetted heat and mosquetoes, and got the hay all up [...]
** 1887, William Black, “A Keepsake”, in Sabina Zembra […], volume III, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 146:You are lucky fellows who can live in a dreamland of your own, instead of being buffeted about the world—
** 1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 288:Atlantic gales constantly buffet Morwenstow, whose seven hamlets together constitute Cornwall's most northerly parish. The village is dotted with trees moulded into weird shapes by the wind, and above the trees rise the vicarage chimneystacks resembling miniature church towers.
* To deaden the sound of (bells) by muffling the clapper.
* (intransitive) To struggle, contend; also in figurative or extended use: to move as if driven by force.
** 2012, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], “Tug of War”, in Ratburger, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN, pages 200–201:Again the chirpy tone did nothing to pacify the woman holding on to her ankles. Soon Zoe was buffeting back and forward through the hole.

##### Translations
### Further reading

* buffet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

## Chinese
### Alternative forms

* 蒲飛 / 蒲飞, 浦飛 / 浦飞, 步飛 / 步飞

### Etymology

From English buffet.

### Pronunciation

* Cantonese (Jyutping): pou$^6$ fei$^1$ / bou$^6$ fei$^1$
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: pou$^6$ fei$^1$ / bou$^6$ fei$^1$
*** Yale: pouh fēi / bouh fēi
*** Cantonese Pinyin: pou$^6$ fei$^1$ / bou$^6$ fei$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: pou$^6$ féi$^1$ / bou$^6$ féi$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /pʰou̯²² fei̯⁵⁵/, /pou̯²² fei̯⁵⁵/

### Noun

buffet
* (Hong Kong Cantonese) buffet
    食buffet [Cantonese] ― sik$^6$ pou$^6$ fei$^1$ [Jyutping] ― to have a buffet meal

#### Synonyms

| Variety | Location | Words |
| Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | Formal (Written Standard Chinese) | 自助餐 |
| Northeastern Mandarin | Taiwan | 自助餐, 吃到飽, buffet |
| Cantonese | Hong Kong | buffet, 自助餐, 任食, 放題 Japanese |

## Finnish
### Etymology

From French buffet.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈbufeː/, [ˈbufe̞ː]
* IPA: /ˈbyfeː/, [ˈbyfe̞ː]
* IPA: /ˈbyfːeː/, [ˈbyfːe̞ː]
* IPA: /ˈbufːetːi/, [ˈbufːe̞t̪ːi] (colloquial)
* Rhymes: -ufeː

### Noun

buffet
* buffet

#### Usage notes

The endings of the alternative, somewhat Finnicized forms buffetti and especially bufetti better fit the structure of Finnish.
Most Finns don't know that the letter t in the form buffet is silent (and that the letter u is pronounced [y]) and are not sure how to decline this form because no native Finnish nouns end in -et in the singular. They therefore consciously or unconsciously change the ending in the nominative to the more Finnish ending -tti in speaking, despite the fact that the French pronunciation (with [y] and silent t) is the only one listed in the Kielitoimiston sanakirja.
Some Finns have trouble pronouncing the sound [b] and many the sound [f], so the completely Finnicized form puhvetti is in fact widespread in speech even though the spelling buffetti is the most common.

#### Declension

Possessive forms of buffet (Kotus type 22/parfait, no gradation) :
first-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
buffet’ni
buffet’ni
accusative
nom.
buffet’ni
buffet’ni
gen.
buffet’ni
genitive
buffet’ni
buffet’ideni buffet’itteni
partitive
buffet’täni
buffet’itäni
inessive
buffet’ssäni
buffet’issäni
elative
buffet’stäni
buffet’istäni
illative
buffet’heni
buffet’ihini
adessive
buffet’lläni
buffet’illäni
ablative
buffet’ltäni
buffet’iltäni
allative
buffet’lleni
buffet’illeni
essive
buffet’näni
buffet’inäni
translative
buffet’kseni
buffet’ikseni
abessive
buffet’ttäni
buffet’ittäni
instructive
comitative
—buffet’ineni
second-person singular possessor
singular
plural
nominative
buffet’si
buffet’si
accusative
nom.
buffet’si
buffet’si
gen.
buffet’si
genitive
buffet’si
buffet’idesi buffet’ittesi
partitive
buffet’täsi
buffet’itäsi
inessive
buffet’ssäsi
buffet’issäsi
elative
buffet’stäsi
buffet’istäsi
illative
buffet’hesi
buffet’ihisi
adessive
buffet’lläsi
buffet’illäsi
ablative
buffet’ltäsi
buffet’iltäsi
allative
buffet’llesi
buffet’illesi
essive
buffet’näsi
buffet’inäsi
translative
buffet’ksesi
buffet’iksesi
abessive
buffet’ttäsi
buffet’ittäsi
instructive
comitative
—buffet’inesi
first-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
buffet’mme
buffet’mme
accusative
nom.
buffet’mme
buffet’mme
gen.
buffet’mme
genitive
buffet’mme
buffet’idemme buffet’ittemme
partitive
buffet’tämme
buffet’itämme
inessive
buffet’ssämme
buffet’issämme
elative
buffet’stämme
buffet’istämme
illative
buffet’hemme
buffet’ihimme
adessive
buffet’llämme
buffet’illämme
ablative
buffet’ltämme
buffet’iltämme
allative
buffet’llemme
buffet’illemme
essive
buffet’nämme
buffet’inämme
translative
buffet’ksemme
buffet’iksemme
abessive
buffet’ttämme
buffet’ittämme
instructive
comitative
—buffet’inemme
second-person plural possessor
singular
plural
nominative
buffet’nne
buffet’nne
accusative
nom.
buffet’nne
buffet’nne
gen.
buffet’nne
genitive
buffet’nne
buffet’idenne buffet’ittenne
partitive
buffet’tänne
buffet’itänne
inessive
buffet’ssänne
buffet’issänne
elative
buffet’stänne
buffet’istänne
illative
buffet’henne
buffet’ihinne
adessive
buffet’llänne
buffet’illänne
ablative
buffet’ltänne
buffet’iltänne
allative
buffet’llenne
buffet’illenne
essive
buffet’nänne
buffet’inänne
translative
buffet’ksenne
buffet’iksenne
abessive
buffet’ttänne
buffet’ittänne
instructive
comitative
—buffet’inenne
third-person possessor
singular
plural
nominative
buffet’nsä
buffet’nsä
accusative
nom.
buffet’nsä
buffet’nsä
gen.
buffet’nsä
genitive
buffet’nsä
buffet’idensä buffet’ittensä
partitive
buffet’tään buffet’tänsä
buffet’itään buffet’itänsä
inessive
buffet’ssään buffet’ssänsä
buffet’issään buffet’issänsä
elative
buffet’stään buffet’stänsä
buffet’istään buffet’istänsä
illative
buffet’hensä
buffet’ihinsä
adessive
buffet’llään buffet’llänsä
buffet’illään buffet’illänsä
ablative
buffet’ltään buffet’ltänsä
buffet’iltään buffet’iltänsä
allative
buffet’lleen buffet’llensä
buffet’illeen buffet’illensä
essive
buffet’nään buffet’nänsä
buffet’inään buffet’inänsä
translative
buffet’kseen buffet’ksensä
buffet’ikseen buffet’iksensä
abessive
buffet’ttään buffet’ttänsä
buffet’ittään buffet’ittänsä
instructive
comitative
—buffet’ineen buffet’inensä :

#### Derived terms

* buffetpöytä
* buffettarjoilu

### Further reading

* “buffet”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

## French
### Etymology

Inherited from Middle French bufet (1150), from Old French bufet, of uncertain origin; possibly a Celtic borrowing. Compare Scottish Gaelic biadh (“food, sustenance”), buadha (“valuable, precious”). Or, according to the Digitized Treasury of the French Language, from an imitative source akin to bouffer (“to eat (in excess)”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /by.fɛ/
* Audio:(file)

### Noun

buffet m (plural buffets)
* sideboard, dresser (a piece of furniture)
    Synonym: crédence
* buffet (food)
* (slang) belly
    Synonym: ventre

#### Derived terms

* buffet à volonté
* buffet campagnard
* buffet de cuisine
* buffet de gare
* buffet du grand jeu
* buffet du positif
* buffet d’argenterie
* buffet d’eau
* buffet d’orgue
* buffet froid
* buffet garni
* buffet glacière
* buffetier
* buffetière
* danser devant le buffet
* dressoir-buffet
* en avoir dans le buffet
* ne pas manquer de buffet
* ne rien avoir dans le buffet
* n’avoir rien dans le buffet
* vin du buffet

#### Descendants

* → Catalan: bufet
* → Czech: bufet
* → Danish: buffet
* → Dutch: buffet
* → Finnish: buffet
* → Galician: bufete
* → German: Buffet, Büfett, Büfet, Büffet, Büfee, Büffee
* → Italian: buffet
* → Lao: ບຸບເຟ່ (bup fē)
* → Norwegian Bokmål: buffet
* → Norwegian Nynorsk: buffet
* → Persian: بوفه (bufe)
* → Polish: bufet
* → Portuguese: bufê, bufete
* → Romanian: bufet
* → Serbo-Croatian: bìfē, бѝфе̄
* → Spanish: buffet, bufet
* → Spanish: bufete
** → Cebuano: bupete
** → Tagalog: bupete
* → Swedish: buffé
* → Thai: บุฟเฟต์ (búp-fêe)
* → Turkish: büfe
* → Vietnamese: búp phê

### References

* ↑ Mackay, Charles (1877): The Gaelic Etymology of the Languages of Western Europe: And More Especially of the English and Lowland Scotch, and Their Slang, Cant, and Colloquial Dialects, p. 58
* ↑ Macleod, Norman (1887): A Dictionary of the Gaelic Language, in Two Parts: I. Gaelic and English.—II. English and Gaelic, p. 96
* “buffet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

### Further reading

* “buffet”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

## Italian
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French buffet.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /bufˈfɛ/$^{**}$, /bufˈfe/$^{**}$
* Rhymes: -ɛ, -e

### Noun

buffet m (invariable)
* (furniture) sideboard
    Synonym: dispensa
* buffet, refreshment bar

### References

* ↑ buffet in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

### Further reading

* buffet in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

## Middle English
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /buˈfɛt/, /ˈbufɛt/

### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French bufet, buffet, diminutive of buffe.

#### Alternative forms

* boffat, boffet, bofett

#### Noun

buffet (plural buffettes)
* A buffet (strike or blow, especially with one's hand).

##### Related terms

* buffeten

##### Descendants

* English: buffet
* Scots: buffet

##### References

* “buffet, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Middle French bufet (“side table”), from Old French bufet, of unknown origin.

#### Alternative forms

* bofet, buffett, buffit

#### Noun

buffet
* (Late Middle English) stool
** 15th c., “Coliphizacio [The Buffeting]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC, page 239:primus tortor. we shall teche hym, I wote / a new play of yoyll, And hold hym full hote / frawrord, a stoyll Go fetch vs! ffroward. We, dote! / now els were it doyll And vnneth; ffor the wo that he shall dre let hym knele on his kne. Secundus tortor. And so shall he for me; Go fetch vs a light buffit.First torturer: We shall teach him, I say, a new Christmas-time game, and treat him very hotly—Froward, go fetch us a stool! Froward: Whoa! Fool! We wouldn't want this to be painful and difficult. For the sake of the pain that he shall dread, let him kneel. Second torturer: And he shall [dread it] on my account. Go fetch us a light stool.

##### Descendants

* English: buffet, beaufet (archaic) (remodelled after modern French)
** → Japanese: ビュッフェ (byuffe)
** → Korean: 뷔페 (bwipe)
* ⇒ Scots: buffet stule

##### References

* “buffet, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

## Norwegian Bokmål
### Alternative forms

* buffé, buffe

### Etymology

From French buffet.

### Noun

buffet m (definite singular buffeten, indefinite plural buffeter, definite plural buffetene)
* sideboard or buffet (US) (dining room furniture containing table linen and services)
* buffet (counter or room where refreshments are sold)
* stående buffet - buffet (a meal which guests can serve themselves)

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Alternative forms

* buffé, buffe

### Etymology

From French buffet.

### Noun

buffet m (definite singular buffeten, indefinite plural buffetar, definite plural buffetane)
* sideboard or buffet (US) (dining room furniture containing table linen and services)
* buffet (a counter or room where refreshments are sold)
* ståande buffet - buffet (a meal which guests can serve themselves)

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French buffet.

### Noun

buffet m (plural buffets)
* Alternative form of bufê

## Spanish
### Alternative forms

* bufet

### Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French buffet. Doublet of bufete.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /buˈfet/ [buˈfet̪]
* Rhymes: -et
* Syllabification: buf‧fet

### Noun

buffet m (plural buffets)
* buffet

#### Usage notes

According to Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) prescriptions, unadapted foreign words should be written in italics in a text printed in roman type, and vice versa, and in quotation marks in a manuscript text or when italics are not available. In practice, this RAE prescription is not always followed.

### Further reading

* “bufet”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10