butter English · revision 5418

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1000|origins=grc βούτυρον}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈbʌt.ə/, US /ˈbʌt̬.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|butter]], [[inh|ang|butere]], an early West Germanic loanword (compare Old High German butera, German Butter, Dutch boter)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|la|būtȳrum|t=butter]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[grc|βούτυρον|tr=boútūron]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) apparently “cow-cheese”, from [[m|grc|βοῦς|tr=boûs|t=ox, cow]] and [[m|grc|τυρός|tr=tūrós|t=cheese]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) This may be a folk etymology, or a loan translation, of a Scythian word.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Latin būtȳrum is also the source of French beurre and Italian burro.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The fatty substance made from cream by churning: about 1000 in the OED and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Butter was used early in India, Iran and northern Europe, but not in ancient Greece and Rome, which were cultures of olive oil.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Herodotus listed it among the oddities of the Scythians.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) In old chemistry it named various substances of buttery consistency.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Figurative unctuous flattery is from 1823,^(OED 1989) and ''as if butter would not melt in one's mouth'' from 1530.^(OED 1989) The verb, to spread with butter, is from Old English buterian,^(Etymonline) and ''butter up'', to flatter lavishly, is by 1798.^(Etymonline) ''Buttermilk'' is from before 1500, ''buttercup'' from 1777, ''butter knife'' from 1818 and ''butterscotch'' from 1855.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – butter.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530 – ''butter would not melt in one's mouth''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1777 – ''buttercup''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1798 – ''butter up''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1823 – flattery.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A soft yellowish fat made by churning [[cream]], used in cooking and spread on bread.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A similar spread made from other foods: ''peanut butter''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To spread or cook with butter.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(with up)'' To [[flatter]] someone to get something.^(Etymonline)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[butterless]]

+ * [[butterlike]]

+ * [[butter up]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[butterfly]]

+ * [[buttercup]]

+ * [[buttermilk]]

+ * [[butterscotch]]

+ * [[butyric]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A butter, an animal that butts, is a different word, formed from the verb [[butt]].^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}