buffel, noun

Forms:
Also buffle.
Origin:
South African Dutch, Afrikaans, EnglishShow more South African Dutch (later Afrikaans), buffalo; the first citation is perhaps the obsolete English buffle.
1.
a. ?obsolete. rare. The buffalo (sense 1), Syncerus caffer.
1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. II. 109Buffles or Buffaloes are numerous in the Cape countries. They are larger than the European Buffles, and of a brown Red.
1881 W.H.P.G. in Cape Monthly Mag. IV. June 382Still, there are buffels in some numbers.
b. combinations
buffelgras, buffelsgras /-ˌxras/ [Afrikaans, gras grass], or partially translated buffel grass /-ˌɡrɑːs/, buffalo grass ;
buffeldoorn, buffelsdoorn obsolete [South African Dutch, doorn thorn], the buffalo thorn (see buffalo sense 2), Ziziphus mucronata .
1915 R. Marloth Flora of S. Afr. IV. 22Buffelgras.
1917 R. Marloth Dict. of Common Names of Plants 35Buffelgras, Panicum laevifolium; P. maximum; Pennisetum cenchroides, Setaria culcata.
1931 E.P. Phillips S. Afr. Grasses 72Panicum maximum (Guinea grass or Buffels gras) is a good pasture and hay grass.
1937 Handbk for Farmers (Dept of Agric. & Forestry) 409Buffelsgras, known also as Ubabe..is a sweet-veld grass.
1955 J. Cleary Justin Bayard 182Between the patch of buffel grass and the grey-blue slate was a small strip of fine sand.
1958 Austral. Encycl. IV. 126Introduced species [of]..fodder plants..from Africa, veldt..buffel (Cenchrus ciliaris)..grasses.
1987 Lubke & La Cock Vegetation & Ecology of Kwaaihoek (pamphlet)A characteristic grassland community dominated by Sporobolus virginicus (brakgras) and Stenotaphrum secundatum (seasidequick, buffelsgras) occurs on the northwestern side of the promontory.
1822 W.J. Burchell Trav. I. 317The next was filled chiefly with Zwartebast (Black-bark), Karreehout, and Buffeldoorn (Buffalo-thorn).
1894 R. Marloth in Trans. of S. Afr. Phil. Soc. p.lxxxivZizyphus bubalinus (Buffel’s doorn).
1917 [see buffalo thorn buffalo sense 2].
2. Military. Usually with initial capital. An armoured, mine-proofed troop carrier with a V-shaped body, used by the South African defence forces. Also attributive. See also Casspir, eland sense 2, hippo, Olifant, ratel sense 2, spook noun sense 2.
1980 Daily Dispatch 21 July 1An infantry-man in an armoured Buffel troop carrier spotted three insurgents in the bush, and the patrol opened fire when they started to run away.
1985 Cape Times 2 Oct. 1Police and soldiers in three Casspirs and two Buffel armoured personnel carriers took up position opposite the gate.
1986 Sunday Times 16 Mar. 14Unique problems..which led to South Africa becoming a pioneer and world leader in building mine-resistant troop vehicles. Most notable among these are the well-known Buffel troop carriers.
1990 Weekly Mail 2 Feb. 25We’d interrogate him...Maybe we tie him to the front of the Buffel and do a little bundu-bashing.
1993 J. Slovo Informant, Johannesburg, GautengThe enemy has the Casspirs,..the enemy has the buffels,..but we have the majority.
The buffalo (sense 1), Syncerus caffer.
, the buffalo thorn (see buffalo sense 2), Ziziphus mucronata
Usually with initial capital.An armoured, mine-proofed troop carrier with a V-shaped body, used by the South African defence forces. Also attributive.
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17311993