Where does “Butternut” come from?

Butternut (English) comes from English Butter, from English butt, from Middle English butten, from Anglo-Norman buter, from Old French boter, from Old French bouter, from Frankish bautan, from Proto-West Germanic bautan — to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...

Butternut (English): A Confederate Southerner, or somebody who...

Definitions

  1. A Confederate Southerner, or somebody who...

Ancestry of “Butternut”, step by step

Butternut traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Butter

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishButterA soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk)
2EnglishbuttThe larger or thicker end of something; the blunt...
3Middle Englishbutten
4Anglo-Normanbuterto strike, finish
5Old Frenchboterto push, butt, strike; to strike; to push; thrust
6Old Frenchbouterto strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter
7Frankishbautanto push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,...
8Proto-West Germanicbautanto beat
9Proto-Germanicbautanąto beat, push
10Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰewd-to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,...
11Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰew-to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...

via English Nut

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishNutThe goddess who serves as the personification of the sky
2Middle Englishnotenote; Alternative form of not
3Old Englishnotuuse; enjoyment; profit, advantage, utility
4Proto-Germanicnutōuse, profit, yield
5Proto-Indo-Europeannewd-to seize; grasp; use; to grasp, seize, use; to...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-
Butternut — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer