Where does “buttercup” come from?
Buttercup comes from English butt and English cup, with butt deriving from Old French -er, Latin -are, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European bʰewd-.
buttercup (English): Any of many herbs, of the genus "Ranunculus",...
Definitions
- Any of many herbs, of the genus "Ranunculus",...
Ancestry of “buttercup”, step by step
buttercup traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Butter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Butter | A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk) |
| 2 | English | butt | The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt... |
| 3 | Middle English | butten | — |
| 4 | Anglo-Norman | buter | to strike, finish |
| 5 | Old French | boter | to push, butt, strike; to strike; to push; thrust |
| 6 | Old French | bouter | to strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter |
| 7 | Frankish | bautan | to push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,... |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | bautan | to beat |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | bautaną | to beat, push |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰewd- | to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,... |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰew- | to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to... |
via English Cup
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Cup | A win of a championship that is awarded a cup; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | cuppe | cup |
| 3 | Old English | cuppe | cup |
| 4 | Late Latin | cuppa | drinking vessel; barrel, cask; axle |
| 5 | Latin | cūpa | tub, cask, tun, vat |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | κώπη | a handle |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | kóh₂p-eh₂ | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | keh₂p- | to seize, grab; to seize; take up; lift; to take,... |