Where does “buttlegger” come from?

buttlegger (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...

buttlegger (English): One who smuggles cigarettes

Definitions

  1. One who smuggles cigarettes

Ancestry of “buttlegger”, step by step

buttlegger 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 butt

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbuttThe larger or thicker end of something; the blunt...
2EnglishputtThe act of tapping a golf ball lightly on a...
3Scotsputtto put
4Middle Englishputtento push, shove, put
5Old Englishpūtian
6Proto-Germanicputōnąto stick, stab, poke; to push
7Proto-Indo-Europeanbud-to shoot, sprout; to swell
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰew-