Etymology

debuff

D2E1B3U1F4F4

Today it means: An effect that makes a game character weaker; a negative status effect. Full definition →

English buff ← Middle French buffle ← Old French bufle
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*de
  2. Proto-Indo-European*déh₁
  3. Proto-Italic*dē
  4. Latindē
  5. Latindē-
  6. Englishde-
  7. Ancient Greek[Term?]?
  8. Ancient Greekβούβαλος (boúbalos)
  9. Latinbūbalus
  10. Late Latinbufalus
  11. Italianbufalo
  12. Old Frenchbufle
  13. Middle Frenchbuffle
  14. Englishbuffe
  15. Englishbuff
  16. English todaydebuff

From de- + buff (“to make a player or item stronger”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.