different between votary vs buff

English

Etymology

From Latin votus, past participle of vovere (“to vow, to devote”).

Adjective

votary (comparative more votary, superlative most votary)

1. Consecrated by a vow or promise; consequent on a vow; devoted; promised.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Custom and Education

     Votary resolution is made equipollent to custom.

Translations

Noun

votary (plural votaries)

1. (religion) A person, such as a monk or nun, who lives a religious life according to vows they have made
2. (religion) A devotee of a particular religion or cult
3. (religion) A devout or zealous worshipper
4. Someone who is devoted to a particular pursuit etc; an enthusiast.
   • 1893, Henry James, Collaboration [1]

     He is such a votary of the modern that he was inevitably interested in the girl of the future and had matched one reform with another, being ready to marry without a penny, as the clearest way of expressing his appreciation, this favourable specimen of the type.

   • 1922, James Joyce, Ulysses Chapter 13

     Gerty was dressed simply but with the instinctive taste of a votary of Dame Fashion for she felt that there was just a might that he might be out.

Translations

Anagrams

• travoy

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?f/
• Rhymes: -?f

Etymology 1

From buffe (“leather”), from Middle French buffle (“buffalo”).

Noun

buff (countable and uncountable, plural buffs)

1. Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.
   • c. 1589, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act IV, Scene 2,^[1]

     […] he’s in a a suit of buff […]

2. A tool, often one covered with buff leather, used for polishing.
3. A brownish yellow colour.
   • 1693, John Dryden (translator), The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis Translated into English Verse, London: Jacob Tonson, Satire 10, lines 307-308, p. 203,^[2]

     […] a Visage rough,

     Deform’d, Unfeatur’d, and a Skin of Buff.

   • 1929, Dashiell Hammett, Red Harvest, Chapter 24,^[3]

     His face changed from tan to buff.

4. A military coat made of buff leather.
   • c. 1594, William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     A diuell in an euerla?ting garment hath him ; / On who?e hard heart is button’d vp with ?teele : / A Feind, a Fairie, pittile??e and ruffe : / A Wolfe, nay wor?e, a fellow all in buffe […]

5. (informal) A person who is very interested in a particular subject; an enthusiast.

   He’s a real history buff. He knows everything there is to know about the civil war.

6. (video games, role-playing games) An effect that makes a character or item stronger.

   I just picked up an epic damage buff! Let's go gank the other team!

7. (rail transport) Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition.
8. (colloquial) The bare skin.

   to strip to the buff

   • 1857, Thomas Wright, Dictionary of Obsolete and Provincial English, London: Henry G. Bohn, p. 265,^[4]

     To be in buff, is equivalent to being naked.

9. The greyish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat.
10. A substance used to dilute (street) drugs in order to increase profits.
    • 2014, “Aldergrove’s 856 gang busted, $400,000 in drugs seized,” CBC News, 30 July, 2014,^[5]

      Police say this 20 ton hydraulic jack was used to press mixtures of cocaine and “buff” into brick.

Derived terms

• in the buff
• buffery
• buffhood
• buffism

Synonyms

• (an enthusiast about a particular subject): aficionado
• (video games): revamp

Antonyms

• (video games): debuff, nerf

Translations

Adjective

buff (comparative buffer or more buff, superlative buffest or most buff)

1. Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow.
2. (bodybuilding) Unusually muscular. (also buffed or buffed out)

   The bouncer was a big, buff dude with tattoos, a shaved head, and a serious scowl.

   • 1994, Blurred Boundaries: Questions of Meaning in Contemporary Culture, page 155:

     The appearance of logic often derives from faulty syllogisms such as Sgt. Koon's conclusion that King was an ex-con because he was "buffed out" (heavily muscled). The thinking is: "ex-cons are often buffed out; this man is buffed out; therefore, this man is an ex-con."

3. (slang) Physically attractive.

Derived terms

• buff-tip moth
• buffly
• buffster

Translations

Verb

buff (third-person singular simple present buffs, present participle buffing, simple past and past participle buffed)

1. To polish and make shiny by rubbing.

2. (video games, role-playing games) To make a character or an item stronger.

3. (medical slang) To modify a medical chart, especially in a dishonest manner.

Derived terms

• buff out
• buff up
• buff wheel

Synonyms

• (to make smooth and shiny by rubbing): wax, shine, polish, furbish, burnish

Antonyms

• (video games): debuff, nerf

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Colors

Etymology 2

Old French bufer (“to cuff, buffet”). See buffet (“a blow”).

Verb

buff (third-person singular simple present buffs, present participle buffing, simple past and past participle buffed)

1. To strike.

Noun

buff (plural buffs)

1. (obsolete) A buffet; a blow.

Derived terms

• blind man's buff

Etymology 3

Clipping of buffalo.

Noun

buff (countable and uncountable, plural buffs)

1. (informal) A buffalo, or the meat of a buffalo.
   • 2006, Bradley Mayhew, Joe Bindloss, Stan Armington, Nepal

     […] diced buff (buffalo) meat, usually heavily spiced […]