beurre French · revision 15671

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1120, bure|origins=grc βούτυρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''beurre''' ''m'' (plural beurres)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''bure'' (about 1120), ''burre'' (about 1200, still in the 17th century); ''beurre'' from the 15th–16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|burre]], [[inh|la|būtyrum]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|1, 663b) [[bor|grc|βούτυρον|tr=boúturon|t=butter; ointment]], literally “cow cheese”, from [[m|grc|βοῦς|tr=boûs|t=cow]] and [[m|grc|τυρός|tr=turós|t=cheese]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)^(Littré 1873) The French form kept the Greek stress, “bútyrum”, as in [[oc|buire]], while the Latin stress “butýrum” gave [[it|burro]], [[en|butter]] and [[de|Butter]].^(DHLF 1992) The form “beurre” is a dialectal variant, from the East according to Bloch and Wartburg and the GLLF, from the West according to Rey.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Bloch and Wartburg add that butter was first used as a kind of ointment, and the ancients learned to eat it from the Scythians of the Black Sea.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Bure'' is found about 1120 for the fat obtained from milk.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Many phrases grew up around butter: ''beurre noir'', ''œil au beurre noir'' “black eye”, ''entrer comme dans du beurre'' “to go in easily” and ''ne pas avoir inventé le fil à couper le beurre'' “to be no genius”.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Derivatives include ''beurrier'' (1270), ''beurrer'' (13th century) and ''beurrée'' “slice of bread and butter” (1585).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1120 – ''Bure''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Burres''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1270 – ''Beurrier'' “butter dish”, in a form with ''bu-''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 15th–16th century – The form ''beurre''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1585 – ''Beurrée''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|butter|alt=Butter]]: ''beurre doux'', ''beurre salé''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Petit beurre'': a butter biscuit.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[beurrée]]

+ * [[beurrer]]

+ * [[beurrier]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[babeurre]]

+ * [[butyrique]]

+ * [[en|butter]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}