butter

See also: Butter

English

A stick of butter (food made from cream) with a butter knife.

Pronunciation

• enPR: bŭʹtər, IPA^(key): /ˈbʌtəɹ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌtə/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌtɚ/, [ˈbʌɾɚ]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈbatə/, [ˈbaɾə]
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌtəɾ/
• (Northern England, Midlands) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊtə/
• (Local Dublin) IPA^(key): /ˈbʊhɐ/
• Rhymes: -ʌtə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: but‧ter

Etymology 1

PIE word
*gʷṓws

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *gʷṓws

Proto-Hellenic *gʷous

Ancient Greek βοῦς (boûs)

Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂-

Proto-Indo-European *-rós

Proto-Indo-European *tuh₂rós

Proto-Hellenic *tūrós

Ancient Greek τυρός (turós)

Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron)bor.

Latin būtȳrumbor.

Proto-West Germanic *buterā

Old English butere

Middle English buter

English butter

From Middle English buter, butter, from Old English butere, from Proto-West Germanic *buterā, from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτῡρον (boútūron, “cow cheese”), compound of βοῦς (boûs, “ox, cow”) and τῡρός (tūrós, “cheese”).

Cognate with Dutch boter and German Butter.

Alternative forms

• butta, buttah (slang)

Noun

butter (usually uncountable, plural butters)

2. A soft, fatty foodstuff made by churning the cream of milk (generally cow's milk).

   Coordinate terms: lard, shortening, fat, drippings, renderings, double cream, curdled cream, clotted cream

3. (cooking) 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).

   Coordinate term: margarine

   peanut butter

   soy butter

   chocolate butter

4. Any of various substances made from other (especially plant-based) oils or fats, used in moisturizers, cosmetics, etc.
   • 2016 September 7, Elaine Stavert, Beauty Oils & Butter, GMC PUBLICATIONS LTD, →ISBN:

     Butters such as cocoa, illippe, kokum, mango, murumuru, sal (shorea) and shea occur naturally and are obtained directly from the plant.

   • 2019 April 5, Heather A.E. Benson, Michael S. Roberts, Vania Rodrigues Leite-Silva, Kenneth Walters, Cosmetic Formulation: Principles and Practice, CRC Press, →ISBN, page 227:

     Butters are triglycerides […] . Cocoa butter (Theobroma cacao) is used as an emollient in topical cosmetic formulations, […] South American and the Brazilian rainforest offer various plants with common butters used in the industry that include […] cupuaçu butter […] and murumuru butter from the murumuru palm tree (Astrocaryum murumuru). India is another source of many butters used in cosmetic products, including kokum butter extracted from the seeds of the Garcinia indica tree, mango butter from the Mangifera indica tree and shea butter […]

5. (obsolete, chemistry) Any specific soft substance.

   butter of antimony; butter of arsenic

6. (slang, sometimes attributive) Something that is smooth, impressive, or appealing. (Compare smooth as butter.)
   • 2024 February 12, @OluBliss, X‎^[1] (post):

     That “Confessions” into “Nice and Slow” transition [at the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show] was buttah !

   1. (aviation, slang) A smooth plane landing.

      That landing was total butter!

Derived terms

Terms derived from butter (noun)

• almond-butter
• almond butter
• apple butter
• back-butter
• back butter
• bean-butter
• black butter
• blue butter
• body butter
• bog butter
• brandy butter
• bread and butter
• bread-and-butter
• bread-and-butter issue
• bread-and-butter letter
• bread-and-butter note
• bread-and-butter pickle
• bread-and-butter plate
• bread and butter pudding
• brown butter
• budder
• bull butter
• butterable
• butter-and-egger
• butter-and-egg man
• butter-and-egg money
• butter-and-eggs
• butter bar
• butter bean
• butterbird
• butter board
• butter boat
• butter bomb
• butter-box
• butter bread
• butter brickle
• butterburger
• butterbutt
• butter cake
• butter chicken
• butter clam
• butter cream
• buttercream
• buttercrunch
• butter curler
• butter dish
• butterdock
• butterer
• butter face
• butterface
• butterfaced
• butter fat
• butter-fat
• butter-fingered
• butter fingers
• butter flap
• butter flower
• butter fruit
• butterhead
• butterhorn
• butter icing
• butter keeper
• butter lamp
• butterleaf
• butterlike
• butterman
• butter measure
• buttermint
• butter mochi
• buttermonger
• butter mountain
• butter-muslin
• butter muslin
• butter of antimony
• butter of arsenic
• butter of tin
• butter of zinc
• butter oil
• butteroil
• butter paddle
• butter paper
• butter pat
• butter pear
• butter pie
• butter plate
• butter salt
• butter scoop
• butterscotch
• butter-slide
• butter slime
• butterspoon
• butter tart
• butter tea
• butter tofu
• butter tooth
• butter tree
• butter will not melt in someone's mouth
• butter-woman
• butterwoman
• butter won't melt in someone's mouth
• butter would not melt in someone's mouth
• butter wouldn't melt in someone's mouth
• butter yellow
• cacao butter
• cannabutter
• clarified butter
• cocoa butter
• compound butter
• cookie butter
• cowboy butter
• Cumberland rum butter
• drawn butter
• duck butter
• egg butter
• fairies' butter
• fairy butter
• garlic butter
• gooey butter cake
• green butter
• guns and butter
• head butter
• head-butter
• herb butter
• honey butter
• kanya butter
• karite butter
• knob of butter
• kombo butter
• land with one's bum in the butter
• like a hot knife through butter
• like a knife through butter
• like butter on a bald monkey
• lung butter
• maître d' butter
• maple butter
• melt someone's butter
• midshipman's butter
• movie theater butter
• nonbutter
• nun's butter
• nut-brown butter
• nut butter
• nutter
• palm-butter
• palm butter
• pea butter
• peanut butter
• peanut-butter-and-jelly
• peanut butter and jelly
• peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich
• peanut butter cup
• peanut-butter cup
• plant butter
• poor man's butter
• print butter
• process butter
• put butter on one's bread
• rebutter
• renovated butter
• rock butter
• rum butter
• school-butter
• shea butter
• shea butter tree
• smooth as butter
• snail butter
• snuff-and-butter
• sugar-butter sauce
• sweet butter
• tanning butter
• truffle butter
• vegan butter
• vegetable butter
• whatever melts your butter
• whipped butter
• whiskey butter
• whisky butter
• witches' butter

Related terms

• butterface
• butterfly
• butter-ham

Descendants

• Tok Pisin: bata
• → Japanese: バター (batā)
• → Korean: 빠다 (ppada) (North Korea), 버터 (beoteo) (South Korea)
• → Samoan: pata
• → Sinhalese: බටර් (baṭar)
• → Tagalog: bater
• → Ulithian: baarooer
• → Zulu: ibhotela

Translations

soft foodstuff made from milk

• Abkhaz: азеҭ (azet)
• Afrikaans: botter (af)
• Ajië: dibëë
• Akkadian: 𒉌𒉣𒈾 (ḫimētu)
• Albanian: gjalpë (sq) m
• Altai:

  Southern Altai: сармай (sarmay), сары май (sarï may), май (may), сарју (sarǰu), сары јуу (sarï ǰuu)

• Alutiiq: masla
• American Sign Language: H@TipPalm-PalmDown-OpenB@CenterChesthigh-PalmUp Contact H@BasePalm H@TipPalm Contact H@BasePalm H@TipPalm Contact H@BasePalm
• Amharic: ቅቤ (ḳəbe)
• Antillean Creole: bè
• Apache:

  Western Apache: ibeʼ nestʼógi

  Western Apache: ibeʼ nestʼógi

• Arabic: زُبْدَة f (zubda)

  Chadian Arabic: زبدة f (zibde)

  Egyptian Arabic: زبدة f (zébda)

  Gulf Arabic: زبدة (zibda)

  Hijazi Arabic: زبدة f (zibda, zubda)

  South Levantine Arabic: زبدة f (zibda, zubda)

• Aragonese: manteca f
• Aramaic: כרעא m (karʽa)

  Classical Syriac: ܚܐܘܬܐ f (ḥeˀwṯā), ܟܪܥܐ (kərāʿāʾ, kārʿāʾ, karʿāʾ)

• Armenian: կարագ (hy) (karag), կոգի (hy) (kogi) (archaic)

  Old Armenian: կոգի (kogi), իւղ (iwł)

• Aromanian: umtu n
• Assamese: মাখণ (makhon), ননী (noni)
• Asturian: mantega f
• Aukan: botoo
• Azerbaijani: yağ (az), kərə yağı
• Bashkir: май (maj)
• Basque: gurin (eu)
• Belarusian: ма́сла n (másla)
• Bengali: মাখন (bn) (makhon)
• Breton: amanenn (br) m, amann (br) m

  Middle Breton: amanen

• Bulgarian: масло́ (bg) n (masló), ма́сло (bg) n (máslo)
• Burmese: ထောပတ် (my) (htau:pat)
• Buryat: сагаан тоһон (sagaan tohon)
• Carpathian Rusyn: ма́сло n (máslo)
• Catalan: mantega (ca) f
• Champenois: bure (Auve)
• Chechen: налха (nalxa), даьтта (dätta)
• Cherokee: ᎪᏢᏅ (gotlvnv), ᎪᏢᏅᎢ (gotlvnvi)
• Cheyenne: heóveamėške
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 牛油 (ngau⁴ jau⁴)

  Eastern Min: 牛奶油 (ngù-nèng-*ièu)

  Hakka: 牛油 (ngiù-yù), 乳油 (nen-yù), 白塔 (pat-tá)

  Hokkien: 牛油 (zh-min-nan) (gû-iû), bá-tah (Taiwan)

  Mandarin: 黃油 / 黄油 (zh) (huángyóu), 牛油 (zh) (niúyóu), 白脫 / 白脱 (zh) (báituō)

  Wu: 白脫 / 白脱, 牛油 (⁶gnieu-yeu₆), 白脫油 / 白脱油 (⁸baq-theq₇-yeu₆)

• Chuvash: ҫу (śu)
• Coptic: ϭⲉⲗⲓ (čeli) (Bohairic); ⲥⲁⲓⲣⲉ (saire) (Sahidic)
• Cornish: amanyn m

  Old Cornish: amanen

• Corsican: butiru m, butirru m
• Crimean Tatar: may, yağ
• Crow: taláashiili
• Czech: máslo (cs) n
• Dalmatian: butir m
• Danish: smør (da) n
• Dolgan: арыы (arıı)
• Dutch: boter (nl) f

  Middle Dutch: bōter m or f

• Dzongkha: མར (mar)
• Elfdalian: smyör n
• Emilian: butér m (Modenese)
• Enets:

  Forest Enets: дюр

• Erzya: ой f (oj)
• Esperanto: butero (eo)
• Estonian: või (et)
• Faroese: smør n
• Fijian: bata (fj)
• Finnish: voi (fi)
• French: beurre (fr) m

  Middle French: burre

  Old French: bure m, burre m

• Frisian:

  North Frisian: bööder (Mooring)

  North Frisian: bööder

  Old Frisian: butera

  Saterland Frisian: Buutere f

  West Frisian: bûter c

• Friulian: butîr
• Fula: nebbam
• Galician: manteiga (gl) f
• Gamilaraay: dhuuman
• Georgian: კარაქი (ka) (ḳaraki)
• German: Butter (de) f, Anke (de) m (Switzerland)

  Alemannic German: Anke m, Butter m

  Bavarian: Budda m, Budan m; Butta m (Vienna)

  East Central German: Putter f (Silesian)

  Middle High German: anke

  Old High German: ancho m, anco m, ankspint, butera

• Gottscheerish: púttər m or f or n
• Greek: βούτυρο (el) n (voútyro)

  Ancient Greek: βούτυρον n (boúturon)

  Cappadocian Greek: καράκι (karáki)

• Greenlandic: punneq
• Gujarati: માખણ (gu) n (mākhaṇ), મસ્કો (masko)
• Haitian Creole: bè
• Hausa: man shanu
• Hawaiian: waiūpaka, paka
• Hebrew: חֶמְאָה (he) f (khem'a)
• Hindi: घी (hi) m (ghī), मक्खन (hi) m (makkhan), माखन (hi) (mākhan), नवनी (hi) f (navnī), नवनीत (hi) m (navnīt), नोनी (hi) f (nonī), नैनू (hi) m (nainū), मस्का (hi) m (maskā), मसका (hi) m (maskā)
• Hungarian: vaj (hu)
• Hunsrik: Butter f
• Icelandic: smjör (is) n, butur n (obsolete)
• Ido: butro (io)
• Indonesian: mentega (id)
• Ingrian: voi
• Ingush: налх (nalx), даьтта (dätta)
• Interlingua: butyro (ia)
• Irish: im (ga) m

  Old Irish: imb n

• Italian: burro (it) m, butirro (it) m (obsolete)
• Japanese: バター (ja) (batā), 牛酪 (ja) (ぎゅうらく, gyūraku), 乳酪 (ja) (にゅうらく, nyūraku)
• Javanese:

  Carakan: ꦩꦼꦂꦠꦺꦒ (jv) (mertéga), ꦩꦤ꧀ꦠꦺꦒ (mantéga) (dialectal)

  Rumi: mertéga, mentéga (dialectal)

• Jingpho: htaw bat
• Kachchi: મખણ (makhaṇ)
• Kannada: ಬೆಣ್ಣೆ (kn) (beṇṇe)
• Karelian: voi
• Karen:

  S'gaw Karen: ထီပး (hṭaw pä), ဝံၣ်သိစီ (weè thoh saw)

• Kashmiri: تھٔنؠ (thạn')
• Kashubian: masło n
• Kazakh: май (mai), сармай (sarmai), сары май (sary mai)
• Khanty:

  Northern Khanty: вуй (wuj)

• Khmer: បឺរ (bəɨ), ខ្លាញ់ទឹកដោះ (khlañ tɨk dɑh)
• Komi:

  Komi-Permyak: ви (vi), ^{(please verify)} вый (vyj)

  Komi-Zyrian: вый (vyj)

• Konkani: लोणी (loṇī)
• Korean: 버터 (ko) (beoteo), 빠다 (ko) (ppada) (North Korea)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کەرە (kere)

  Northern Kurdish: rûnê nivişk m, nivîşk (ku), kere (ku), rûn (ku)

• Kyrgyz: май (ky) (may), сары май (ky) (sarı may), сүт май (ky) (süt may), паста (ky) (pasta), повидло (ky) (povidlo), май сүйкөө (ky) (may süyköö)
• Ladin: smauz m; smaltz n (Luserna, Sette Comuni)
• Lakota: asáŋpi-wígli, asáŋpi-glí
• Lao: ເບີ (lo) (bœ̄), ເນີຍ (nœ̄i)
• Latgalian: svīsts
• Latin: būtȳrum n
• Latvian: sviests (lv) m
• Leonese: manteiga f, untu m
• Ligurian: bitìru m (Genoese); bürru m (Monégasque)
• Limburgish: bótter (li) m
• Lithuanian: sviestas m
• Livonian: vȭidag
• Livvi: voi
• Lombard: butter (lmo), büter; burro (lmo); buter (lmo) m (Western), boter m (Eastern)
• Low German:

  Dutch Low Saxon: botter (nds) f

  German Low German: Botter (nds) f, Bodder (Mecklenburgisch), Bueter (Märkisch)

  Middle Low German: botter

• Ludian: voi
• Luxembourgish: Botter (lb) m
• Macedonian: путер m (puter), маст (mk) f (mast)
• Malagasy: dibera (mg)
• Malay:

  Jawi: منتيݢ

  Rumi: mentega (ms)

• Malayalam: വെണ്ണ (ml) (veṇṇa)
• Maltese: butir (mt)
• Mansi:

  Northern Mansi: ^{(please verify)} во̄й (vōj)

• Manx: eeym m
• Māori: pata (mi)
• Maranao: mantikiliya
• Marathi: माखण n (mākhaṇ), लोणी n (loṇī)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: ӱй (üj)

  Western Mari: ӱ (ü)

• Marshallese: bōta
• Mauritian Creole: diber
• Megleno-Romanian: unt
• Mirandese: manteiga f
• Mohawk: owistóhseraʼ
• Moksha: вай (vaj)
• Mon: ထဝ်ဗာတ် (mnw)
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: масло (mn) (maslo), цөцгийн тос (cöcgiin tos), шар тос (šar tos) (China)

  Mongolian script: ᠮᠠᠰᠯᠣ᠋ (maslo), ᠴᠥᠴᠦᠭᠡᠢ
  ᠶᠢᠨ
  ᠲᠣᠰᠤ (čöčügei yin tosu), ᠰᠢᠷ᠎ᠠ
  ᠲᠣᠰᠤ (sir-a tosu)

• Nahuatl:

  Central Huasteca Nahuatl: chichiualayotl

  Central Nahuatl: chichihualayotl (Amecameca)

  Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl: tlachiacayotl

• Navajo: mandagíiya
• Neapolitan: butirro m
• Nenets:

  Tundra Nenets: юрˮ (yur)

• Nepali: नौनी (naunī), मक्खन (makkhan)
• Nganasan: люоˮсадир (ljuoʔsadjir)
• Norman: beurre m (Jersey), burre m (Guernsey), buure m (continental Norman), bür m (Sark)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: smør (no) n

  Nynorsk: smør n

• Occitan: burre (oc) m, bodre (oc) m
• Odia: ଲହୁଣୀ (or) (lahuṇi)
• Ojibwe: ozaawi-bimide, bimide
• Okanagan: kmiƛ'mn
• Old Church Slavonic:

  Cyrillic: масло n (maslo)

• Old East Slavic: масло n (maslo)
• Old English: butere f
• Orok: simuksä
• Oromo: dhadhaa
• Osage: paazénii wéli
• Ossetian: нӕлхӕ (nælxæ)
• Pannonian Rusyn: масло n (maslo)
• Pashto: کوچ (ps) m (kuč)
• Pennsylvania German: Budder m
• Persian:

  Dari: مَسْکَه (maska)

  Iranian Persian: کَرِه (kare)

• Piedmontese: bur m, butir m
• Plautdietsch: Botta (nds) f
• Polish: masło (pl) n
• Portuguese: manteiga (pt) f
• Punjabi: ਮੱਖਣ m (makkhaṇ)
• Quechua: mantikilla
• Romani: khil m
• Romanian: unt (ro) n
• Romansh: paintg m
• Russian: ма́сло (ru) n (máslo), сли́вочное ма́сло (ru) n (slívočnoje máslo)
• Rwanda-Rundi: amavuta, ama-vuta
• Sami:

  Inari Sami: vuoj̣â

  Kildin Sami: вӯйй (vūjj)

  Lule Sami: vuodja

  Northern Sami: vuodja

  Pite Sami: vuodja, vuojja

  Skolt Sami: vuõjj

  Southern Sami: voeje

  Ter Sami: vɨjj

  Ume Sami: vuajja

• Samoan: pata (sm)
• Samogitian: svėists m
• Sanskrit: नवनीत (sa) (navanīta), घृत (sa) n (ghṛta)
• Sardinian: butiru m
• Scots: butter, buter
• Scottish Gaelic: ìm m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ма̏слац m, пу̏тер m

  Latin: mȁslac (sh) m, pȕter (sh) m

• Seychellois Creole: diber
• Shan: ထေႃးပၢတ်ႈ (tháu pāat)
• Sicilian: butirru m
• Sidamo: buuro
• Silesian: masło n
• Sindhi: مکڻ (makhanu); (molten) گيِہہُ m (gīhu)
• Sinhalese: බටර් (baṭar)
• Slovak: maslo (sk) n
• Slovene: maslo (sl) n, puter m (colloquial)
• Somali: subag (so) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: butra f, masło n (rare)

  Upper Sorbian: butra f

• Sotho: sereledi (st)
• Spanish: mantequilla (es) f, manteca (es) f (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay)

  Old Spanish: butiro m, buturo m

• Sranan Tongo: botro
• Sumerian: 𒉌 (i₃, ia₃)
• Sundanese: ᮙᮔ᮪ᮒᮦᮌ (su) (mantéga)
• Swahili: siagi (sw)
• Swazi: libhotela class 5
• Swedish: smör (sv) n
• Tagalog: mantekilya
• Tajik: маска (maska), равған (tg) (ravġan), равғани зард (ravġan-i zard)
• Talysh: ruyən
• Tamil: வெண்ணெய் (ta) (veṇṇey), இழுது (ta) (iḻutu), விழுது (ta) (viḻutu)
• Tarantino: burre m
• Tarifit: trussi f
• Tatar: май (tt) (may)
• Telugu: వెన్న (te) (venna)
• Tetum: manteiga
• Thai: เนย (th) (nəəi)
• Tibetan: མར། (mar), གསོལ་མར (gsol mar) (honorific)
• Tigre: ዝበድ (zəbäd)
• Tigrinya: ጠስሚ (ṭäsmi)
• Tocharian B: kewiye
• Tok Pisin: bata
• Turkish: tereyağı (tr), yağ (tr) (obsolete)

  Ottoman Turkish: تره‌یاغی (tereyağı), یاغ (yağ), روغن (revgan, rugan)

• Turkmen: mesge
• Tuvan: саржаг (sarjag), үс (üs)
• Udi: кӏаракӏ (ḳaraḳ)
• Udmurt: вӧй (vöj)
• Ugaritic: 𐎃𐎎𐎀𐎚 (ḫmảt)
• Ukrainian: ма́сло (uk) n (máslo)
• Ulithian: baarooer
• Unami: putël inan
• Urdu: گھی m (ghī), مَکَّھن m (makkhan), نَونی f (naunī), نُونی f (nūnī), نَوَنِیت m (navanīt)
• Uyghur: سېرىق ماي (sëriq may)
• Uzbek: saryogʻ (uz), moy (uz)

  Cyrillic: сарёғ (saryogʻ), мой (uz) (moy)

• Venetan: butiro (vec) m, botiro m
• Veps: voi
• Vietnamese: bơ (vi)
• Vilamovian: putter f
• Vili: mantèka
• Volapük: bör (vo), mileg (older term)
• Võro: võid
• Votic: või
• Walloon: boure (wa) m
• Waray-Waray: mantikilya
• Welsh: menyn (cy) m, ymenyn (cy) m

  Middle Welsh: ymenyn

• West Flemish: beuter m
• Winnebago: hirawaxiri
• Wolaytta: oyssaa
• Wolof: bóor, diw (wo)
• Xârâcùù: dibèè
• Xhosa: ibhotolo class 9
• Yakut: арыы (arïï)
• Yiddish: פּוטער f (puter)
• Yola: buthther
• Yoruba: bọ́tà, òrí
• Yup'ik: masslaaq
• Zealandic: beuter
• Zhuang: naijyouz
• Zulu: îbhotêla (zu) class 5

other foodstuffs like butter

• Bashkir: май (maj)
• Esperanto: ŝmiraĵo
• French: beurre (fr) m
• Russian: ма́сло (ru) n (máslo)
• Swedish: smör (sv) n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Georgian: ^{(please verify)} ერბო (ka) (erbo)

Verb

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. (skiing, snowboarding) 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. Similar to applying butter to bread with the end of a knife.
   1. To spin on skis or a snowboard using only the tips or tails being in contact with the snow

   Hyponyms: nosebutter, tailbutter

3. (slang, obsolete, transitive) To increase (stakes) at every throw of dice, or every game.

Derived terms

Terms derived from butter (verb)

• butter down
• buttered
• buttering
• butter my butt and call it a biscuit
• butter my butt and call me a biscuit
• butter one's bread and lie in it
• butter one's bread on both sides
• butter out
• butter someone's biscuit
• butter the cony
• butter up
• fine words butter no parsnips
• have one's bread buttered for life
• know which side one's bread is buttered on
• nosebutter
• nosebuttered
• nosebuttering
• tailbutter
• tailbuttered
• tailbuttering
• whatever butters your biscuit
• whatever butters your biscuits
• whatever butters your bread
• whatever butters your muffin
• whatever butters your toast

Translations

to spread butter on — see also spread,‎ butter

• Afrikaans: botter (af), bebotter
• Bulgarian: намазвам с масло (namazvam s maslo)
• Czech: (impf.) mazat máslem, namazat máslem, (pf.) pomazat máslem
• Danish: smøre brødet
• Dutch: beboteren (nl), inboteren, met boter besmeren
• Faroese: smyrja
• Finnish: voidella (fi)
• French: beurrer (fr)
• German: mit Butter bestreichen
• Hindi: मक्खन लगाना (makkhan lagānā), चुपड़ना (hi) (cupaṛnā)
• Icelandic: smyrja
• Ido: butrizar (io)
• Interlingua: butyrar
• Italian: imburrare (it)
• Marathi: माखणे (mākhṇe)
• Norman: beurrer (Jersey)
• Polish: smarować masłem
• Portuguese: amanteigar (pt), passar manteiga em
• Russian: нама́слить (ru) (namáslitʹ), нама́сливать (ru) (namáslivatʹ), нама́зать ма́слом (namázatʹ máslom), нама́зывать ма́слом (namázyvatʹ máslom)
• Slovene: namazati z maslom
• Spanish: untar con mantequilla
• Swedish: bre (sv), breda (sv)
• Thai: ทาเนย (ta noey)
• Ukrainian: зма́щувати ма́слом impf (zmáščuvaty máslom), змасти́ти ма́слом pf (zmastýty máslom)
• Vietnamese: (vào) quẹt bơ

See also

• butyraceous
• ghee

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

English butt

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English butter

From butt + -er.

Noun

butter (plural butters)

1. Someone or something that butts.
   • 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.

2. Someone or something that butts in; a busybody.

French

Etymology

From butte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /by.te/

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

butter

1. to heap

   butter les pommes de terre.

   to heap the potatoes [onto something].

Conjugation

Conjugation of butter (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	butter
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	buttant /by.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		butté /by.te/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(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 historic2	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	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	butte /byt/	buttes /byt/	butte /byt/	buttions /by.tjɔ̃/	buttiez /by.tje/	buttent /byt/
	imperfect2	buttasse /by.tas/	buttasses /by.tas/	buttât /by.ta/	buttassions /by.ta.sjɔ̃/	buttassiez /by.ta.sje/	buttassent /by.tas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	butte /byt/	—	buttons /by.tɔ̃/	buttez /by.te/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Further reading

• “butter”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Verb

butter

1. inflection of buttern:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. singular imperative

Lombard

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

butter

1. butter

Middle English

Noun

butter

1. alternative form of buter

Swedish

Adjective

butter (comparative buttrare, superlative buttrast)

1. grumpy

Declension

Inflection of butter

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	butter	buttrare	buttrast
neuter singular	buttert	buttrare	buttrast
plural	buttra	buttrare	buttrast
masculine plural2	buttre	buttrare	buttrast
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	buttre	buttrare	buttraste
all	buttra	buttrare	buttraste

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

References

• “butter”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “butter”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “butter”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)

Anagrams

• brutet, buttre

West Flemish

Noun

butter ?

1. alternative form of beuter