Etymologically
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buttis

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈbʊt.tɪs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈbut.tis][1]

Forms

buttis f (genitive buttis); third declension[1] Medieval spellings include butis, butta, buta, buza and bota.[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[4] The TLL compares a Greek vessel name of Tarentum recorded by Hesychius,[4] and Wiktionary suggests that the word came through Greek, comparing Ancient Greek πυτίνη (putínē, “flask”) and Ancient Greek βοῦττις (boûttis).[1] Köbler and Wiktionary connect it, as an imitative word, with Proto-Indo-European *bʰeHw- (“to swell, puff”);[3][1] Pokorny lists Ancient Greek βυτίνη (butínē), a word in Hesychius, among the words of that root.[5]

It is the source of Italian botte (“cask”),[6] and Pokorny derives Old English bytt (“bottle, cask”) from it.[5] Its medieval form butta stands beside French bouc, bout “wineskin”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it only in the glossaries, where it renders words for a cask or a jar.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

In Frankish texts it is both a skin for wine and a wooden cask: a capitulary orders that good iron-bound barrels be kept ready and that no buttes be made of leather.[8][2] The MLW also records it as a measure of wine.[8]

In British sources a homonym, buttis “end of a strip of land” (English “butt of land”), appears from about 1182;[3] Köbler derives it from butta in that sense.[3]

Timeline

  • Late Antiquity – Glossaries gloss Greek words for a cask with buttis.[4][7]
  • 507–877 – Frankish capitularies use it of wineskins and casks.[8][3]
  • c. 1182 – British records use buttis of the end of a strip of land.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A cask, barrel, butt.[1][2][8]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A wineskin.[2][8]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A measure of wine.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke
  6. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b Goetz, Georg (1888–1923), Corpus glossariorum Latinorum, Leipzig: Teubner; vols. VI–VII Thesaurus glossarum emendatarum, digital ed. CGLO, Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ a b c d e f Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften