Where does “booklegger” come from?

booklegger (English) comes from English bootlegger, from English bootleg, from English boot, from French botte, from Italian botta, from Italian bottare, from French bouter, from Middle French bouter — to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...

booklegger (English): An illicit publisher or distributor of banned...

Definitions

  1. An illicit publisher or distributor of banned...

Ancestry of “booklegger”, step by step

booklegger traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English bootlegger

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbootleggerAn illegal trader of goods, especially of alcohol
2EnglishbootlegTo make, transport and/or sell illegal alcoholic...
3EnglishbootA heavy shoe that covers part of the leg; A blow...
4Frenchbotteboot; something resembling a boot; oppression
5Italianbottablow, hit, shock, knock, attack
6Italianbottare
7Frenchbouterto push; to remove flesh from the skin of an...
8Middle Frenchbouterto pull
9Old Frenchbouterto strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter
10Frankishbautanto push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,...
11Proto-West Germanicbautanto beat
12Proto-Germanicbautanąto beat, push
13Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰewd-to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,...
14Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰew-to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...

via English Book

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishBookthe Bible
2Germanbūchbook collection of sheets of paper bound together to hinge at one edge; long work fit for publication
3Middle High Germanbuoch
4Old High Germanbuohbook
5Proto-Germanicbōk
6Proto-Germanicbakanąto bake
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰeh₃g-to bake, to roast, to fry
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-