Buffered

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Protected by a material or method that absorbs shock or impact ; chemically treated to maintain a stable pH or condition ; having data temporarily held in memory for processing or transfer
2. Cushioned to reduce or prevent damage or disturbance ; adjusted chemically to keep conditions steady or neutral ; using memory to hold information temporarily before use
3. Made less susceptible to sudden changes or damage through a protective layer ; undergoing chemical modification to keep balance ; stored briefly in a digital memory area before delivery or processing

Etymology: The chemistry sense of "buffered" is the surprising one: it comes from a word for a shock absorber, not from anything to do with chemistry. The verb "buff" was an imitative word for a dull thud when something was struck, and from it came "buffer", a thing that takes a blow. Early buffers were cushioning objects, and the idea of something that absorbs impact is the thread that runs through every sense of the word. That thread leads to the railway meaning, where a buffer is the sprung block at the end of a track that stops a carriage from running off the line. A second, separate sense comes from "buff leather", a soft, dull-coloured leather used for polishing, which gave the word its use for a polishing wheel and for a person who pushes or polishes. The adjective "buffered" carries the cushioning idea into the other senses. A buffered solution resists sudden changes in acidity, and a buffered memory holds data briefly so that it can be used later, much as a padded stop softens a train's arrival.

Synonyms: cushioned, shielded

Antonyms: exposed, vulnerable