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Chambers (1908)

Buff

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This edition’s origin note

[Fr. buffle, a buffalo.]

Original source wording, not an independently verified *SET-U conclusion.

The complete extracted entry

e-37683-3595

Historical source text, not a reviewed *SET-U analysis. Claims and terminology belong to this edition.

Buff, buf, n. a pliant and uncracking leather used for soldiers' belts and other military purposes, made out of salted and dried South American light ox and cow hides: a military coat: the colour of buff: a light yellow: the bare skin: (pl.) certain regiments in the British army, so named from their buff-coloured facings—e.g. East Kent Regiment, Ross-shire Buffs.—ns. Buff′-coat, a strong military coat: a soldier; Buff′-wheel, Buff′-stick, a wheel or stick covered with buff-leather or the like, and sprinkled with emery, for polishing.—In buff, naked. [Fr. buffle, a buffalo.]

Source locator ebook:37683;section:dictionary;paragraph:3631;continuation-paragraphs:0;html-characters:1374199-1374979

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  • Historical scholarship from 1908; not current consensus or editorial verification.
  • Historical text may contain offensive, obsolete or inaccurate language and classifications.
  • Public-domain determination applies to the United States; other jurisdictions require separate confirmation.
  • Chambers consulted earlier dictionaries including Skeat and the New English Dictionary; overlapping claims are not independent scholarly votes.

An old root, gloss or concordance number does not determine the meaning of every later use. A word’s origin and its modern meaning are different questions.

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Edition, rights and traceability

Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
Thomas Davidson (editor)
1908

Public-domain-US ↗ · United States

Publisher marks these historical texts public domain in the USA. Transformed book text excludes Gutenberg branding; source attribution is a bibliographic acknowledgment. No non-US public-domain determination is made.

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Coverage: the complete A–Z main-entry clusters and dictionary Addenda. Derivative words remain within their original entry clusters. Non-dictionary appendices and standalone illustrations are excluded.

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