Etymology

baff

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Today it means: To bark; yelp. Full definition →

Middle English baffen
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baff · verb1

  1. Middle English · inherited frombaffen“to bark”
  2. English todaybaff

From Middle English baffen (“to bark”). Cognate with Dutch baffen (“to bark”), Low German baffen (“to bark”), German baffen, bäfzen (“to bark”), Danish bjæffe (“to yelp”), Swedish bjäbba (“to yelp, bark”). Compare buff, yaff.

baff · verb2

  1. West Flemish · derived frombaf
  2. Scots · borrowed frombaff
  3. English todaybaff

Probably from Scots baff, beff, bauf, probably from West Flemish baf, baffe (“a blow, slap in the face”). Compare also Old French baffe (“slap in the face”) (Modern French baffe), of imitative origin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.