Where does “puta” come from?

puta (Interlingua) comes from French putain, from Old French putain, from Vulgar Latin putta, from Latin puta, from Latin puto, from Latin putus, from Proto-Indo-European puHtós, from Proto-Indo-European pewH- — to be clean, pure.

puta (Interlingua): whore

Definitions

  1. whore

Ancestry of “puta”, step by step

puta traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via French putain

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchputainwhore, hooker; bitch, cow; fuck, fucking hell,...
2Old Frenchputainwhore, prostitute, bitch
3Vulgar Latinputtaprostitute
4Latinputasecond-person singular present active imperative...
5LatinputoI clean, cleanse; I trim, prune, lop; I arrange,...
6Latinputuspure; a boy
7Proto-Indo-EuropeanpuHtóspure, clean
8Proto-Indo-EuropeanpewH-to be clean, pure

via Spanish puta

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Spanishputafeminine singular of puto; whore, slut,...
2Old Spanishputawhore

via Italian puttana

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Italianputtanawhore, slut, hooker, harlot, tart; bitch;...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pewH-