Etymology

debut

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Today it means: A performer's first performance to the public, in sport, the arts or some other area. Full definition →

French début ← Old French but ← Frankish *but
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The story

  1. Spanish · borrowed fromdebut
  2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰewd-“to beat, push”
  3. Proto-Germanic · derived from*butą“end, piece”
  4. Old Norse · derived frombútr“log, stump, butt”
  5. Frankish · derived from*but“stump, log”
  6. Old French · derived frombutte“mound, knoll, target”
  7. Old French · derived frombut“aim, goal, end, target”
  8. French · borrowed fromdébut
  9. English todaydebut

Borrowed from French début, from Middle French, derivative of débuter (“to move, begin”), from dé- + but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *butą (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Old English butt (“tree stump”). More at butt. The Philippine sense is influenced by Spanish debut.

Words from the same roots

Old Frenchbut all →

abut

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.