Where does “headbutt” come from?
headbutt (English) comes from English butt, from Middle English butten, from Anglo-Norman buter, from Old French boter, from Old French bouter, from Frankish bautan, from Proto-West Germanic bautan, from Proto-Germanic bautaną — to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to...
headbutt (English): A sharp blow delivered by driving the head into...
Definitions
- A sharp blow delivered by driving the head into...
Ancestry of “headbutt”, step by step
headbutt traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English butt
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | butt | The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt... |
| 2 | Middle English | butten | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | buter | to strike, finish |
| 4 | Old French | boter | to push, butt, strike; to strike; to push; thrust |
| 5 | Old French | bouter | to strike; to hit; to place; to put; to enter |
| 6 | Frankish | bautan | to push, strike, beat; to hit, strike; to hit,... |
| 7 | Proto-West Germanic | bautan | to beat |
| 8 | Proto-Germanic | bautaną | to beat, push |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰewd- | to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰew- | to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to... |
via English head
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | head | The part of the body of an animal or human which... |
| 2 | English | -y | Added to nouns and adjectives to form adjectives... |
| 3 | Middle English | -y | Designates an adjective, in many cases formed by... |
| 4 | Old English | -iġ | -y, -ic |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | -g | Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs with a... |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | -gaz | -y |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -ḱos | -y, -ic |