| 1 | French | début | start, beginning |
| 2 | Middle French | débuter | to move, begin |
| 3 | Middle French | but | mark, goal |
| 4 | Old French | but | aim, goal, end, target; end, aim, purpose |
| 5 | Old French | butte | but, mark; mound, knoll, target |
| 6 | Frankish | but | stump, log |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | *butą | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰewd- | to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰew- | to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to... |