butter

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See also: Butter

English[edit]

A stick of butter (food made of cream) with a butter knife.
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Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English, from Old English butere (“butter”), from Proto-Germanic *buterǭ (“butter”) (compare West Frisian bûter, Dutch boter, German Butter), from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron, “cow cheese”), compound of βοῦς (boûs, “ox, cow”) and τῡρός (tūrós, “cheese”), from Scythian.

Compare Avestan 𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬏𐬙‏ (tūiri, “curdled milk, whey”)), from Proto-Indo-European *tuHrós (compare Middle Indic [script needed] (tūra, “cheese”), Russian творо́г (tvoróg, “curds, soft cheese”), Old English þweran (“to churn”), geþweor (“curds”)).

Noun[edit]

butter (usually uncountable, plural butters)

  1. (uncountable) A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk).
  2. (countable, obsolete, chemistry) Any specific soft substance.
    butter of antimony; butter of arsenic
  3. (uncountable) Any of various foodstuffs made from other foods or oils, similar in consistency to, eaten like or intended as a substitute for butter (preceded by the name of the food used to make it).
    peanut butter
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from butter (noun)
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

butter (third-person singular simple present butters, present participle buttering, simple past and past participle buttered)

  1. (transitive) To spread butter on.
    Butter the toast.
  2. to move one's weight backwards or forwards onto the tips or tails of one's skis or snowboard so only the tip or tail is in contact with the snow.
  3. (slang, obsolete, transitive) To increase (stakes) at every throw of dice, or every game.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from butter (verb)
Translations[edit]
to spread butter on — See also translations at spread,‎ butter
See also[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

butt +‎ -er

Noun[edit]

butter (plural butters)

  1. Someone who butts, or who butts in.
    • 2005, David E. Fastovsky, David B. Weishampel, The Evolution and Extinction of the Dinosaurs (page 156)
      […] these animals lacked self-correcting mechanisms of the kind seen in modern head-butters such as goats and big-horn sheep that would have kept the tremendous forces aligned with the rest of the skeleton.

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From butte.

Verb[edit]

butter

  1. to heap
    butter les pommes de terre.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
    to heap the potatoes on to [something].

Conjugation[edit]

  Conjugation of butter (see also Appendix:French verbs)
simple compound
infinitive butter avoir butté
gerund en buttant en ayant butté
present participle buttant
/by.tɑ̃/
past participle butté
/by.te/
person singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il nous vous ils
simple
tenses		 present butte
/byt/		 buttes
/byt/		 butte
/byt/		 buttons
/by.tɔ̃/		 buttez
/by.te/		 buttent
/byt/
imperfect buttais
/by.tɛ/		 buttais
/by.tɛ/		 buttait
/by.tɛ/		 buttions
/by.tjɔ̃/		 buttiez
/by.tje/		 buttaient
/by.tɛ/
past historic1 buttai
/by.te/		 buttas
/by.ta/		 butta
/by.ta/		 buttâmes
/by.tam/		 buttâtes
/by.tat/		 buttèrent
/by.tɛʁ/
future butterai
/by.tʁe/		 butteras
/by.tʁa/		 buttera
/by.tʁa/		 butterons
/by.tʁɔ̃/		 butterez
/by.tʁe/		 butteront
/by.tʁɔ̃/
conditional butterais
/by.tʁɛ/		 butterais
/by.tʁɛ/		 butterait
/by.tʁɛ/		 butterions
/by.tə.ʁjɔ̃/		 butteriez
/by.tə.ʁje/		 butteraient
/by.tʁɛ/
compound
tenses		 present perfect Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
past anterior1 Use the past historic tense of avoir followed by the past participle
future perfect Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
conditional perfect Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive que je (j’) que tu qu’il que nous que vous qu’ils
simple
tenses		 present butte
/byt/		 buttes
/byt/		 butte
/byt/		 buttions
/by.tjɔ̃/		 buttiez
/by.tje/		 buttent
/byt/
imperfect1 buttasse
/by.tas/		 buttasses
/by.tas/		 buttât
/by.ta/		 buttassions
/by.ta.sjɔ̃/		 buttassiez
/by.ta.sje/		 buttassent
/by.tas/
compound
tenses		 past Use the present subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
pluperfect1 Use the imperfect subjunctive tense of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
— butte
/byt/		 — buttons
/by.tɔ̃/		 buttez
/by.te/		 —
1literary tenses

Further reading[edit]

Swedish[edit]

Adjective[edit]

butter (comparative buttrare, superlative buttrast)

  1. grumpy

Declension[edit]

Inflection of butter
Indefinite/attributive Positive Comparative Superlative2
Common singular butter buttrare buttrast
Neuter singular buttert buttrare buttrast
Plural buttra buttrare buttrast
Definite Positive Comparative Superlative
Masculine singular1 buttre buttrare buttraste
All buttra buttrare buttraste
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.
2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in an attributive role.

West Flemish[edit]

Noun[edit]

butter ?

  1. Alternative form of beuter
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