Where does “Nutter” come from?

Nutter comes from Middle English nutter, with origins uncertain beyond this attestation.

Nutter (English): A person who gathers nuts

Definitions

  1. A person who gathers nuts

Ancestry of “Nutter”, step by step

Nutter traces back through 3 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...

via Middle English nutter

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishnutter

Words derived from “Nutter

Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-