Where does “butter” come from?
butter (French) comes from French butte, from French but, from French boire, from Middle French boire, from Old French boivre, from Latin bibere, from Latin bibō, from Latin -ilis — Forms agent nouns from verbal roots.
butter (French): to heap
Definitions
- to heap
Ancestry of “butter”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | butte | small hill, mound, hillock; knoll; heap |
| 2 | French | but | aim; goal; third-person singular past historic of... |
| 3 | French | boire | to drink |
| 4 | Middle French | boire | to drink |
| 5 | Old French | boivre | to drink; a drink |
| 6 | Latin | bibere | third-person plural perfect active indicative of... |
| 7 | Latin | bibō | to drink |
| 8 | Latin | -ilis | -ile |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | -elis | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -elis | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | -lós | Forms agent nouns from verbal roots |