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
but traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French boire
| 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 | to drink |
| 6 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |
via Middle French but
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle French | but | mark, goal |
| 2 | Old French | but | aim, goal, end, target; end, aim, purpose |
| 3 | Old French | butte | but, mark; mound, knoll, target |
| 4 | Frankish | but | stump, log |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | *butą | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰewd- | to hit, strike; to beat, push; to strike, push,... |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰew- | to grow, swell; to swell, wax, grow; to blow; to... |