Where does “bootlicker” come from?
bootlicker (English) comes from English boot, from French botte, from Italian botta, from Italian bottare, from French bouter, from Middle French bouter, from Old French bouter, from Frankish bautan — to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...
bootlicker (English): A person who behaves in a servile or obsequious...
Definitions
- A person who behaves in a servile or obsequious...
Ancestry of “bootlicker”, step by step
bootlicker traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English boot
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | boot | A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg; A blow... |
| 2 | French | botte | boot; something resembling a boot; oppression |
| 3 | Italian | botta | blow, hit, shock, knock, attack |
| 4 | Italian | bottare | — |
| 5 | French | bouter | to push; to remove flesh from the skin of an... |
| 6 | Middle French | bouter | to pull |
| 7 | Old French | bouter | to strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter |
| 8 | Frankish | bautan | to push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,... |
| 9 | Proto-West Germanic | bautan | to beat |
| 10 | Proto-Germanic | bautaną | to beat, push |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰewd- | to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,... |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰew- | to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to... |