Where does “Butternacht” come from?
Butternacht (German) comes from German butter, from Middle High German buter, from Old High German butira, from Proto-West Germanic buterā, from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτυρον, from Ancient Greek τυρός, from Proto-Hellenic tūrós — to swell; to crowd; to be strong.
Butternacht (German): The night of the 1st of August 1963, during which the village of Elten reverted to German sovereignty after fourteen years of Dutch administration, on which occasion very many exporters of dutiable goods (especially butter) parked their freight trucks in the village overnight in order to export thos
Definitions
- The night of the 1st of August 1963, during which the village of Elten reverted to German sovereignty after fourteen years of Dutch administration, on which occasion very many exporters of dutiable goods (especially butter) parked their freight trucks in the village overnight in order to export thos
Ancestry of “Butternacht”, step by step
Butternacht traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via German butter
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | German | butter | inflection of buttern: ## first-person singular... |
| 2 | Middle High German | buter | butter |
| 3 | Old High German | butira | butter |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | buterā | butter |
| 5 | Latin | būtȳrum | butter |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | βούτυρον | butter |
| 7 | Ancient Greek | τυρός | cheese |
| 8 | Proto-Hellenic | tūrós | cheese |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | tuh₂-ró-s | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | tewh₂- | to swell; to crowd; to be strong |