As a noun, butter is a smooth, yellow fat made from milk or cream, used for cooking and spreading on food. As a verb, it means to spread butter on something.
From Old English 'butere,' from Latin 'butyrum,' from Greek 'boutyron,' likely meaning 'cow cheese.' The word traveled from Greek into Latin and then into many European languages as dairy farming spread. Its basic meaning has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years.
Try Another Word