O.E.
bucca "male goat," from P.Gmc.
*bukkon (cf. M.Du.
boc, O.H.G.
boc, O.N.
bokkr), perhaps from a PIE base
*bhugo (cf. Avestan
buza "buck, goat," Arm.
buc "lamb"), but some speculate that it is from a lost pre-Gmc. language. Apparently O.E. also had
buc "male deer." The two words (if truly separate) were fully merged by c.1100. Verb is 1848, apparently with a sense of "jump like a buck." Meaning of "dollar" is 1856, Amer.Eng., perhaps an abbreviation of
buckskin, a unit of trade among Indians and Europeans in frontier days, attested in this sense from 1748.
Buckshot is first recorded 1447;
buck up "cheer up" is from 1844.
Pass the buck is first recorded in the lit. sense 1865, Amer.Eng.:
"The 'buck' is any inanimate object, usually knife or pencil, which is thrown into a jack pot and temporarily taken by the winner of the pot. Whenever the deal reaches the holder of the 'buck', a new jack pot must be made." [J.W. Keller, "Draw Poker," 1887]
The fig, sense of "shift responsibility" is first recorded 1912.
[buhk] 
