buffalo

Definition

An animal from the subtribe Bubalina, also known as true buffalos, such as the Cape buffalo, Syncerus caffer, or the water buffalo, Bubalus bubalis.

Etymology

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.

Example Sentences

• ""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.""
• "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."
• "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"