Buffet

Etymology

The dining sense comes from French "buffet," a sideboard or serving table, of uncertain earlier origin.

The unrelated homograph — to buffet, meaning to batter, as waves buffet a ship — comes from Old French "buffe" (a blow, a slap). Two separate words that collapsed into one spelling.

noun · /buh-FAY/
A meal where diners serve themselves from an array of dishes laid out on a table.
What it names
Self-service dining — and a neat trap, since its identical twin, "buffet" (BUFF-it), means to strike repeatedly.
Example
They circled the breakfast buffet twice before their flight.
Related idea
The self-service buffet (buh-FAY) and the pummeling buffet (BUFF-it) are homographs — spelled alike, sounded differently, and wholly unrelated in origin.
verb · /buh-FAY/
To strike or batter repeatedly, especially as wind or waves do.
What it names
A relentless pounding, literal or figurative.
Example
The little boat was buffeted by wave after wave until the storm finally passed.
Related idea
Figuratively, a public figure can be buffeted by criticism — lambasted from every direction at once.