American buffalo
- noun
- /əˈmɛrɪkən ˈbʌfələʊ/
- Specialized
:
bisonte americano
- Other Native American buffalo cooperatives have begun to appear (Gardner 1998), as have further Native American buffalo-restoration efforts, such as Honor the Earth's Buffalo Commons Project (LaDuke 1998).
Examples
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In the plains of North America, the American buffalo can often be seen grazing in herds.
-
Other Native American buffalo cooperatives have begun to appear (Gardner 1998), as have further Native American buffalo-restoration efforts, such as Honor the Earth's Buffalo Commons Project (LaDuke 1998).
Academic text (1999) -
We visited a national park where we had the chance to observe the American buffalo in their natural habitat.
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The American buffalo, known for its large size and shaggy coat, is an iconic symbol of the American West.
Synonyms
32
3.9
A large wild animal like a cow with a humped back, thick fur, and short horns
28
1.7
A large wild animal with shaggy hair from North America often called bison or its meat used as food
1
3.3
A large shaggy brown animal that lives on the North American plains
A large brown wild animal with thick fur that lives on North American plains
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'American' (from America) modifying 'buffalo' (the animal), so it refers to a buffalo/bison from America. The nationality+noun construction is cross-linguistically common and follows standard modification patterns, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand the phrase.
Etymology
American buffalo comes from early settlers who used the French word 'boeuf', the word for an 'ox', to name the big, shaggy animals they saw. So, American buffalo now means the large bison that roamed the North American plains.