buffo
English
Etymology
Noun
buffo (plural buffos or buffi)
- (music) A comic singer, particularly in comic opera
- 2007 January 27, Vivien Schweitzer, “Young Lovers, a Vespa and a Frolic by Rossini”, in New York Times[1]:
- Signor Bruschino was updated from a generic buffo character to an oily, scholarly-looking, suit-clad neurotic, excellently acted and sung by Marco Nistico.
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbuf.fo/
- Rhymes: -uffo
- Hyphenation: bùf‧fo
Etymology 1
Compare Old French bouffer, originally "to puff up;" both are from Medieval Latin buffa, itself echoic of puffing out cheeks.[1]
Adjective
buffo (feminine buffa, masculine plural buffi, feminine plural buffe)
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 2
Onomatopoeic.
Noun
buffo m (plural buffi)
Derived terms
Related terms
Etymology 3
Alteration of puf, from French pouf (“debt”), used in locutions such as faire pouf and à pouf.
Noun
buffo m (plural buffi)
Etymology 4
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb
buffo
- first-person singular present indicative of buffare
References
- ^ Pianigiani, Ottorino (1907) “buffo”, in Vocabolario etimologico della lingua italiana (in Italian), Rome: Albrighi & Segati