Word: buffer Part of Speech: noun Etymology: Etymology tree Old French buffeder. Middle English buff Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English buffer Agent noun from obsolete verb buff (“make a dull sound when struck”) (mid-16c.), from Old French buffe (“blow”). The “boatswain's mate” sense is said to be popularly explained by the mate being a “buffer”, that is intermediary, between officers and men, but various other explanations have also been proposed. Pronunciation: /ˈbʌfə/, [ˈbɐfə(ɹ)], /ˈbʌfəɹ/, /ˈbafə(ɹ)/, [ˈbäfə(ɹ)] 1. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. 2. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. 3. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. Example: 1885, W. S. Gilbert, The Mikado, Act II, in The Mikado, and Other Plays, New York: Modern Library, 1917, p. 42, https://archive.org/details/mikadootherplays00gilb The idiot who, in railway carriages, / Scribbles on window panes, / We only suffer / To ride on a buffer / In Parliamentary trains. Example: The underframe, which has been designed to take buffing loads of 200 tons both on the centre coupler and on the retractable side buffers, consists of two centre girders from which cantilevers project to support the solebars, which in turn carry the bodyside structure. 4. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. Example: Of course, I was not always right. I questioned the value of Crossrail (a scheme revived by Prescott after being scrapped by the Conservatives), suggesting wrongly that it may be "doomed to hit the buffers" […]. A dozen years later, I published my book on it, extolling the line's wonders. We are all allowed to change our minds. 5. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. 6. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. 7. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. 8. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. 9. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. Example: I keep a savings buffer of three months' worth of living expenses. 10. Anything used to isolate or minimize the effect of one thing on another. Labels: figuratively Example: An utterly emphatic 5-0 victory was ultimately capped by two wonder strikes in the last two minutes from Aston Villa midfielder Gary Gardner. Before that, England had utterly dominated to take another purposeful stride towards the 2013 European Championship in Israel. They have already established a five-point buffer at the top of Group Eight. 11. The chief boatswain's mate. Labels: UK, slang Example: He decided to run for president of the POs' Mess against the Buffer, Chief Bosun's Mate Mal Crane, but the two had a face-to-face in his cabin one night in Narvik and sorted it out. Example: I happen to be on the brow handing my Bosun's Mate duties over to an Ordinary Seaman when the Buffer arrives with an unofficial Side-Party to man the brow with Bosun's Calls at the ready.