Etymology

• Anglo-American colonists' slang term describing young Indian men (sometimes described as young bucks), who in warm weather often hunted and fought without clothing
• From the phrase ""as naked as a buck deer" (similar to the phrase "naked as a jay-bird" and reinforced in its usage by the fact that the hair of a deer is similar in color to tanned human skin)
• Bowdlerization of
• From a mishearing of

Adjective

1. Completely naked
2. Naked but for a waist band with knife sheath, arm bands, footwear, weapons in hand, etc.