βούτυρον

Forms

βούτῡρον (boútūron) n (genitive βουτῡ́ρου); second declension^[1]

Etymology

A compound: from Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs, “cow”) + τυρός (turós, “cheese”), literally “cow-cheese”: a noun made from a possessive compound, like βούσταθμον (boústathmon) beside σταθμός (stathmós).^[2][3][4] A masculine βούτυρος (boúturos), in Galen, follows the gender of τυρός (turós).^[2][3] Etymonline adds that “cow-cheese” may be a folk etymology reshaping a Scythian word.^[5]

Greek gave Latin būtȳrum, first a medical term, and through Latin the word passed to the West Germanic languages (Old High German butera, Dutch boter) and to Romance (Italian burro, French beurre).^[2][3][4][6] English butter comes from Old English butere, an early loan from the Latin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is in the Hippocratic Corpus (5th–4th century BC), which defines it as “the fat of milk” and uses it in remedies.^[7][8][9]

Semantic evolution

Butter was a foreign food to the Greeks, who cooked with oil;^[5] Etymonline notes that it was used early in India, Iran and northern Europe but not in Greece or Rome.^[5] In Greek texts the word appears in medicine (the Hippocratic writers, Dioscorides, Soranus, Galen), in Aristotle, and in the Septuagint, where Abraham sets butter and milk before his guests and Jael gives Sisera butter.^[7][8][10] Diocletian's price edict lists it among foodstuffs.^[7][8] Hesychius records it as the name of a plant.^[7]

Medieval vernacular Greek kept it as βούτυρο (voútyro), with the dialect forms βότυρον (vótyron) and βούτουρο (voútouro).^[11] Modern Greek βούτυρο (voútyro) means butter, and also vegetable fats such as cocoa butter.^[12][6]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – The Hippocratic Corpus defines it as the fat of milk and prescribes it in remedies.^[7][8][9]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle mentions it.^[7][8]
• 3rd century BC – The Septuagint uses it in Genesis, where Abraham serves butter and milk to his visitors.^[7][10][9]
• 1st century AD – Dioscorides describes its medical uses.^[7][8]
• AD 301 – Diocletian's price edict lists butter.^[7][8]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts have βούτυρο (voútyro) and the variant βούτουρο (voútouro).^[11]
• Modern Greek – βούτυρο (voútyro) continues the word.^[12][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. Butter; also cream.^[7][8]
2. A plant.^[7][13]

Word family

• βουτύρινος (boutúrinos)

Related words

• βοῦς (boûs)
• τυρός (turós)
• Latin būtȳrum
• English butter

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b c Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ a b Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
9. ^ a b c Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
10. ^ a b Lust, Johan; Eynikel, Erik; Hauspie, Katrin (2003), Greek-English Lexicon of the Septuagint, rev. ed., Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft
11. ^ a b Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)