Where does “bootleggery” come from?

bootleggery (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...

bootleggery (English): The crime of bootlegging

Definitions

  1. The crime of bootlegging

Ancestry of “bootleggery”, step by step

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...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-