different between box vs buffet

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /b?ks/
• (General American) enPR: bäks, IPA^(key): /b?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Etymology 1

From Middle English box (“jar (usually cylindrical); type of container; strongbox for valuables or its contents; cupping glass for bloodletting; bone socket”), from Old English box (“box-tree; box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhs? (“box tree; thing made from boxwood; box”), either from Latin buxus (“box tree; thing made from boxwood”), buxum (“box tree; boxwood”) (possibly from ????? (púxos, “box tree; boxwood”)); or from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”) (from Ancient Greek ????? (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”), from ????? (púxos) + -?? (-is, “suffix forming feminine nouns”)).

If the latter derivation is correct, the word is cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish hjulbössa (“wheel-box”).

The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

Noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

1. Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.
   1. A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.

      Synonyms: case, package
   2. A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.

      Synonym: boxful
   3. A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.
   4. A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.
      1. A numbered receptacle at a newspaper office for anonymous replies to advertisements; see also box number.
   5. A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.

      Synonym: loge
   6. The driver's seat on a horse-drawn coach.

      Synonym: box seat
   7. A small rectangular shelter.

      Synonyms: shelter, booth
   8. Short for horsebox (“container for transporting horses”).
   9. (rail transport) Short for signal box.
   10. (figuratively) A predicament or trap.
   11. (slang) A prison cell.
       • 1951, William S. Burroughs, in Harris (ed.), Letters 1945–59, Penguin 2009, p. 98:

         While sojourning in the box I was greatly impressed by the kindness and decency of the Mexican people.

       1. (slang) A cell used for solitary confinement.

          Synonym: hole

          • 2003, Elayne Rapping, Law and Justice as Seen on TV (page 83)

            He is fearless and contemptuous, apparently able to withstand any discipline—including nights “in the box” […]

          • 2009, Megan McLemore, Barred from Treatment

            He had been in disciplinary confinement (“the box”)—punishment reserved for serious prison offenses—for 14 months.

          • 2020, Erin Hatton, Coerced: Work Under Threat of Punishment (page 89)

            […] he explained, “you can go to the box. So, I got a ticket for refusing an order and I went to the box in that situation. […]

   12. (euphemistic) A coffin.
   13. (slang) Preceded by the: television.

       Synonyms: (Britain) telly, tube, TV
   14. (slang, vulgar) The vagina.

       Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vagina
   16. (computing, slang) A computer, or the case in which it is housed.

       Synonyms: computer, machine
   18. (cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.

       Synonym: (US) cup
   19. (cricket) Synonym of gully (“a certain fielding position”)
   20. (engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.
   21. (fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, which connects to a fencer's weapon by a spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.
   22. (dated) A small country house.
       • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.vi.9:

         “I dare say the sheriff, or the mayor and corporation, or some of those sort of people, would give him money enough, for the use of it, to run him up a mighty pretty neat little box somewhere near Richmond.”
2. Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space
   1. A rectangle: an oblong or a square.
   2. (baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.
   3. (genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.
   4. (juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.
   5. (lacrosse, informal) Short for box lacrosse (“indoor form of lacrosse”).
   6. (soccer) The penalty area.

Usage notes

• (computing): the humorous plural form boxen is occasionally used.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

Translations

See also

• tofu (“empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts”)

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
2. (transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
3. (transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
4. (transitive, agriculture) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
5. (transitive, architecture) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
6. (transitive, engineering) To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
7. (transitive, graphic design, printing) To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
8. (transitive, object-oriented programming) To place a value of a primitive type into a corresponding object.

Synonyms

• (to place inside a box): box up, case, embox, encase, pack, pack up, package

Antonyms

• (place inside a box): unbox, uncase, unpack

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English box (“box tree; boxwood”), from Old English box (“box tree”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhs (“box tree; thing made from boxwood”), from Latin buxus (“box tree; thing made from boxwood”), buxum (“box tree; boxwood”), possibly from ????? (púxos, “box tree; boxwood”).

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus, especially the common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.
2. The wood from a box tree: boxwood.
3. (music, slang) A musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.
4. (Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, the box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).
5. (Australia) Various species of Eucalyptus trees are popularly called various kinds of boxes, on the basis of the nature of their wood, bark, or appearance for example, the drooping (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black, or ironbark box trees.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English box (“a blow; a stroke with a weapon”); further origin uncertain. The following etymologies have been suggested:

• Possibly related to Proto-Germanic *boki-, whence Danish bask (“a blow; a stripe”), Danish baske (“to flap, move around, beat violently”), Middle Dutch boke (“a blow, a hit”), b?ken (“to slap, strike”) (modern Dutch beuken (“to slap”)), West Frisian bûtse, bûtsje (“to slap”), Saterland Frisian batsje (“to slap”), Low German betschen (“to slap, beat with a flat hand”), Middle High German buc (“a blow, a stroke”), bochen (“to slap, strike”).
• Possibly onomatopoeic.
• Possibly from box (“cuboid space; container”), perhaps referring to the shape of the fist.
• Possibly from Ancient Greek ??? (púx, “with clenched fist”), ????? (pugm?, “fist; boxing”).

The verb is from Middle English boxen (“to beat or whip (an animal)”), which is derived from the noun.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. A blow with the fist.

Synonyms

• blow
• cuff
• punch

Translations

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To strike with the fists; to punch.
2. (transitive, boxing) To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.
3. (intransitive, boxing) To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? French: boxer
• ? Galician: boxear
• ? German: boxen
• ? Portuguese: boxear, boxar
• ? Spanish: boxear

Translations

Etymology 4

From Latin b?x, from Ancient Greek ??? (bôx, “box (marine fish)”), from ???? (boûs, “ox”) + ?? (?ps, “eye, view”), a reference to the large size of the fish's eyes relative to its body.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. (dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.

Translations

References

Further reading

• box on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• box (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• box at OneLook Dictionary Search

Czech

Noun

box m

1. boxing (the sport of boxing)

Declension

Related terms

• boxér
• boxérky
• boxovat

Further reading

• box in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• box in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English box.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?ks/
• Hyphenation: box
• Rhymes: -?ks
• Homophone: boks

Noun

box m (plural boxen, diminutive boxje n)

1. speaker, loudspeaker

   Synonyms: luidspreker, speaker

2. playpen
3. compartment for livestock

French

Etymology

From English box. Doublet of boîte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?ks/

Noun

box m (plural box or boxes)

1. stall (for a horse), loose box
2. compartment, cubicle
3. garage, lock-up (for a car)

Derived terms

• box des accusés

Further reading

• “box” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Noun

box f (plural box)

1. Electronic equipment used for internet access (component of the digital subscriber line technology)

Hungarian

Noun

box

1. Misspelling of boksz.

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p?xs/

Noun

box n (genitive singular box, nominative plural box)

1. box (container)

   Synonym: kassi

2. (sports) boxing

   Synonym: hnefaleikar

Declension

Derived terms

• boxa
• boxhanski
• nestisbox

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English box.

Noun

box m (invariable)

1. horsebox
2. garage, lock-up (for a car)
3. (motor racing) pit
4. playpen

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ??? (b?x).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /bo?ks/, [bo?ks?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /boks/, [b?ks]

Noun

b?x m (genitive b?cis); third declension

1. A kind of marine fish

Declension

Third-declension noun.

References

• box in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• box in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• box in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Middle English

Alternative forms

• boxe

Etymology

From Old English box, from Proto-West Germanic *buhs?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Noun

box (plural boxs)

1. A cylindrical jar.
2. A case, container or strongbox.

Descendants

• English: box (see there for further descendants)
• Scots: box

References

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

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *buhs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boks/

Noun

box m

1. box
2. box tree

Declension

Derived terms

• boxtr?ow
• byxen
• ?ewyrtbox
• s?pbox
• sealfbox

Descendants

• Middle English: box, boxe
  • English: box (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: box

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• boxe (prescriptive)

Etymology

Borrowed from English box.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?ks/

Noun

box m (Brazil) or f (Portugal) (plural boxes) (proscribed)

1. stall (for a horse)
2. electronic equipment used for internet access (component of the digital subscriber line technology)
3. (Brazil) the curtain or glass panes which separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom; shower stall
   • 2003, Eileen G. de Paiva e Mello, Questão de Tempo, Thesaurus Editora, page 150:

     A mais velha procurava arrancar a cortina do box, pendurando-se nela!

     The oldest one wanted to pull off the stall curtain by hanging to it!

Derived terms

• encostar às boxes

Romanian

Etymology 1

From French boxe.

Noun

box n (plural boxuri)

1. (sports) boxing (the sport of)
2. A kind of sword.

Synonyms

• (the sport): pugilat, pugilism, pugilistic?

Etymology 2

From French box.

Noun

box

1. bovine leather

Etymology 3

Noun

box

1. A breed of bulldog.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English box. Doublet of buje.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bo?s/, [?bo??s]

Noun

box m (plural boxes)

1. boxing (sport)
2. (motor racing) pit
3. (sports) box

Derived terms

• calle de boxes
• parada en boxes
• parar en boxes

Further reading

• “box” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Homophone: bocks

Noun

box c

1. box, crate; a cuboid container

Declension

Derived terms

• frysbox
• kylbox
• postbox

English

Etymology 1

From French buffet.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: bo?o'f?, b?'f?; IPA^(key): /?b?fe?/, /?b?fe?/
• (US) enPR: b?f?', IPA^(key): /b??fe?/

Noun

buffet (plural buffets)

1. A counter or sideboard from which food and drinks are served or may be bought.

   Synonyms: sideboard, smorgasbord, (obsolete) cupboard
2. Food laid out in this way, to which diners serve themselves.

   Synonyms: buffet meal, smorgasbord

3. A small stool; a stool for a buffet or counter.
   • c. 15th century, author unknown, Wakefield Mystery Plays

     Go fetche us a light buffet.

Descendants

• ? Japanese: ????? (byuffe)
• ? Korean: ?? (bwipe)

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English 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: b?f??t, IPA^(key): /?b?f?t/

Noun

buffet (plural buffets)

1. 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

   • 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

Etymology 3

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

Pronunciation

• enPR: b?f??t, IPA^(key): /?b?f?t/

Verb

buffet (third-person singular simple present buffets, present participle buffeting or buffetting, simple past and past participle buffeted or buffetted)

1. (transitive) To strike with a buffet; to cuff; to slap.

   • They spit in his face and buffeted him.

2. (transitive, figuratively) to aggressively challenge, denounce, or criticise.
   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," 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.

3. 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, A Narrative of Some of the Adventures, Dangers and Sufferings of a Revolutionary Soldier, Ch. I:

     [...] I buffetted heat and mosquetoes, and got the hay all up [...]
4. To deaden the sound of (bells) by muffling the clapper.

Translations

Etymology 4

Possibly from Middle French buffet (“side table”), of unknown origin.

Noun

buffet (plural buffets)

1. A low stool; a hassock.

Further reading

• buffet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Finnish

Etymology

From French buffet.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?byf?e?/, [?byf?e??]
• IPA^(key): /?buf?et?i/, [?buf?e?t??i] (colloquial)

Noun

buffet

1. 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 Finnish nouns don't end in -t 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.

Most 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

French

Etymology

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^(key): /by.f?/

Noun

buffet m (plural buffets)

1. sideboard, dresser (a piece of furniture)
2. buffet (food)
3. (slang) belly

Synonyms

(sideboard):

• crédence

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• “buffet” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Further reading

• “buffet” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

From French buffet.

Noun

buffet m (invariable)

1. (furniture) sideboard

   Synonym: dispensa

2. buffet, refreshment bar

Further reading

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

Norwegian Bokmål

Alternative forms

• buffé, buffe

Etymology

From French buffet.

Noun

buffet m (definite singular buffeten, indefinite plural buffeter, definite plural buffetene)

1. sideboard or buffet (US) (dining room furniture containing table linen and services)
2. buffet (counter or room where refreshments are sold)
3. 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)

1. sideboard or buffet (US) (dining room furniture containing table linen and services)
2. buffet (a counter or room where refreshments are sold)
3. ståande buffet - buffet (a meal which guests can serve themselves)

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• bufê, bufete
• bifê (proscribed)

Etymology

From French buffet.

Pronunciation

Noun

buffet m (plural buffets)

1. ? (proscribed) buffet (food laid out so diners may serve themselves)

Further reading

• “buffet” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Alternative forms

• bufet

Etymology

From French buffet. Doublet of bufete.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu?fet/, [bu?fet?]

Noun

buffet m (plural buffets)

1. buffet

Further reading

• “bufet” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.