Where does “but” come from?
but (French) comes from French boire, from Middle French boire, from Old French boivre, from Latin bibere, from Latin bibō, from Latin -ilis, from Proto-Italic -elis, from Proto-Indo-European -elis — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
but (French): aim; goal; third-person singular past historic of...
Definitions
- aim; goal; third-person singular past historic of...
Ancestry of “but”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | boire | to drink |
| 2 | Middle French | boire | to drink |
| 3 | Old French | boivre | to drink; a drink |
| 4 | Latin | bibere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 5 | Latin | bibō | — |
| 6 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |