butter

butter · noun, verb¹

1. Ancient Greek · derived fromβούτῡρον“cow cheese”
2. Latin · derived frombūtȳrum
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*buterā
4. Old English · inherited frombutere
5. Middle English · inherited frombuter
6. English todaybutter

PIE word *gʷṓws Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws Proto-Hellenic *gʷous Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs) Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *tuh₂rós Proto-Hellenic *tūrós Ancient Greek τυρός (turós) Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron)bor. Latin būtȳrumbor. Proto-West Germanic *buterā Old English butere Middle English buter English butter From Middle English buter, butter, from Old English butere, from Proto-West Germanic *buterā, from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron, “cow cheese”), compound of βοῦς (boûs, “ox, cow”) and τῡρός (tūrós, “cheese”). Cognate with Dutch boter and German Butter.

butter · noun²

1. Middle Englishbutte
2. Englishbutt
3. English todaybutter

From butt + -er.

Butter · proper noun³

1. German · borrowed fromButter
2. Old French · derived frombutor“bittern”
3. English todayButter

Various origins: * From butter, a metonymic occupational surname for a dairyman or seller of butter. * From Old French butor (“bittern”), a nickname for someone who resembled a bittern, perhaps because of his voice. * Borrowed from Dutch and German Butter, possibly a short form of various compound names.

Words from the same roots