putty

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Middle French potée,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} which is recorded for the product of heating certain metals (1562), a polishing powder of tin oxide (1676), a red-ochre glaze for earthenware (1680) and a foundry mould mixture of clay and horse dung (1704).^[2] The OED notes that the French word is not attested in most of the English senses, and that it is first recorded slightly later than English in the sense of polishing powder.^[2] The French word is recorded from about 1200 as Old French potée (“contents of a pot”), a derivative of pot (“pot”),^[2][7][3][8] from Vulgar Latin *pottus.^[3] Ayto explains that both the polishing powder and the lime cement were made in pots.^[8] Cotgrave's dictionary defined the French word as burnt or calcined brass, copper, tin or pewter.^[9] It is related to pot.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

A fine mortar of lime and water without sand, used in pointing brickwork: 1472, in the fabric rolls of York Minster.^[2] Merriam-Webster also dates the word to the 15th century,^[10] but other dictionaries begin it later: Etymonline in the 1630s, as a plasterer's fine cement,^[7] Dictionary.com in 1625–35,^[11] and Barnhart in 1663, as a polishing powder, in Robert Boyle.^[12][4]

Semantic evolution

The powder for polishing glass and metal, putty powder, is recorded from 1663, in Boyle;^[2][4] Johnson (1755) gave it as his first sense, with Newton's account of grinding a telescope lens on pitch with putty.^[13] The familiar glazier's putty of chalk and linseed oil, used to fix panes of glass, is recorded from 1665 in the OED;^[2] Barnhart's first record is Phillips's dictionary of 1706.^[4] Ayto puts its rise in the 18th century.^[8] Its softness gave the figurative putty in someone's hands, easily influenced, from 1867;^[2] Etymonline dates the figurative use to 1924.^[7] In the 19th century the word spread to other putty-like materials (1867), a yellowish-grey colour (1869), the soft mud at the bottom of a river or lake (1883) and a soft golf ball (1881).^[2] Australian up to putty, worthless, dates from 1916,^[2] and navy slang has called a ship's painter putty since 1927.^[2] In American slang, putty was money from 1846.^[14] The verb, to fix or fill with putty, is recorded from 1719,^[2][10] or 1734 in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[4][7]

Timeline

• 1472 – a fine lime mortar used in pointing brickwork.^[2] Etymonline dates the plasterer's cement to the 1630s.^[7]
• 1663 – a powder of tin oxide for polishing glass or metal.^[2][4]
• 1665 – a paste of chalk and linseed oil for fixing panes of glass.^[2] Barnhart dates it to 1706.^[4]
• 1719 – verb, to fix, fill or cover with putty.^[2][10] Barnhart and Etymonline date it to 1734.^[4][7]
• 1846 – US slang, money.^[14]
• 1867 – putty in a person's hands, easily influenced; any putty-like substance.^[2]
• 1869 – a yellowish-grey colour.^[2]
• 1883 – soft mud or sand at the bottom or edge of a body of water.^[2]
• 1916 – Australian up to putty, worthless.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A soft, stiff paste of whiting or chalk and linseed oil, used to fix panes of glass in frames and to fill holes and cracks in woodwork: The glazier pressed fresh putty around the new pane.^[15][10][2]
2. Any of various substances like this in consistency or use.^[15][10][2]
3. A fine mortar or finishing coat of lime and water, used in pointing brickwork and on plaster.^[15][10][2]
4. A powder of tin oxide, or of tin and lead oxides, used for polishing glass or metal; putty powder.^[10][2][16]
5. A light yellowish grey colour.^[2]
6. putty in someone's hands: easily influenced or controlled by someone.^[2][15]

Verb

1. To fix, fill, cover or smooth with putty: She puttied the nail holes before painting the skirting.^[10][2][15]

Word family

• puttyless
• puttylike
• puttyroot
• puttier
• unputtied
• putty knife
• putty powder
• silly putty

Related words

• pot
• pottage

Usage notes

In dialect, Northumberland, Lancashire, Oxfordshire and East Anglia had compounds such as putty-brain, a blockhead, and putty-medal, a mock reward for a stupid person.^[17]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
12. ^ Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
16. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)