Where does “butter” come from?

Butter comes from Old French burre, from Latin būtȳrum, from Greek boútyron, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰew- meaning to grow or swell.

butter (English): A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the...

Definitions

  1. A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the...

Ancestry of “butter”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishbutterAlternative form of buter
2Middle Englishbuterbutter
3Old Englishbuterebutter
4Proto-West Germanicbuterābutter
5Latinbūtȳrumbutter
6Ancient Greekβούτυρονbutter
7Ancient Greekτυρόςcheese
8Proto-Hellenictūróscheese
9Proto-Indo-Europeantuh₂-ró-s—
10Proto-Indo-Europeantewh₂-to swell; to crowd; to be strong

Words derived from “butter”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European tewh₂- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European tuh₂-ró-s →Every word from Proto-Hellenic tūrós →