different between zealot vs buff

English

Etymology

Initially only found as Middle English zelote, an epithet of Simon the Zealot, acquiring its current senses in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Middle English derives from Latin z?l?t?s, from Ancient Greek ??????? (z?l?t?s, “emulator, zealous admirer, follower”), from ????? (zêlos, “zeal, jealousy”), from ????? (z?ló?, “to emulate, to be jealous”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?z?l.?t/
• Hyphenation: zeal?ot

Noun

zealot (plural zealots)

1. One who is zealous, one who is full of zeal for his own specific beliefs or objectives, usually in the negative sense of being too passionate; a fanatic
2. (historical) A member of a radical, warlike, ardently patriotic group of Jews in Judea, particularly prominent in the first century, who advocated the violent overthrow of Roman rule and vigorously resisted the efforts of the Romans and their supporters to convert the Jews.
3. (historical) A member of an anti-aristocratic political group in Thessalonica from 1342 until 1350.

Quotations

• 1892: Yet Brahmans rule Benares still, / Buddh-Gaya's ruins pit the hill, / And beef-fed zealots threaten ill / To Buddha and Kamakura. — Rudyard Kipling, Buddha at Kamakura

Synonyms

• enthusiast
• fanatic

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Laotze

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 […]