Where does “débutante” come from?
débutante (English) comes from French débutante, from French débutant, from French débuter, from French but, from French boire, from Middle French boire, from Old French boivre, from Latin bibere — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
débutante (English): A female who débuts
Ancestry of “débutante”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | débutante | A debutante |
| 2 | French | débutant | present participle of débuter; debutant, newbie,... |
| 3 | French | débuter | to start; to debut, to make one's debut |
| 4 | French | but | aim; goal; third-person singular past historic of... |
| 5 | French | boire | to drink |
| 6 | Middle French | boire | to drink |
| 7 | Old French | boivre | to drink; a drink |
| 8 | Latin | bibere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 9 | Latin | bibō | — |
| 10 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 11 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 13 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |