Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “buttonball” come from?

buttonball (English) comes from English button, from French bouton, from Italian bottone, from Spanish botón, from Old French boton, from Old French bouter, from Frankish bautan, from Proto-West Germanic bautan — to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...

buttonball (English): A tree, the buttonwood or American sycamore

Definitions

  1. A tree, the buttonwood or American sycamore

Ancestry of “buttonball”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbuttonA knob or disc that is passed through a loop or ,...
2Frenchboutonbutton; bud; pimple, spot, zit
3Italianbottonebutton; bud
4Spanishbotónbutton; key; bud
5Old Frenchboton—
6Old Frenchbouterto strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter
7Frankishbautanto push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,...
8Proto-West Germanicbautanto beat
9Proto-Germanicbautanąto beat, push
10Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰewd-to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,...
11Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰew-to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰew- →