English
boutade
Boutade comes from French boutade ‘caprice, whim’, from bouter ‘to thrust’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bautaną ‘to beat’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bautaną‘to beat’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*bautan‘to push, strike, beat’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bouter‘to strike, push’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600bouter
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbouter‘to thrust’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentboutade‘caprice, whim’
- Englishearliest quotation 1884boutade
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bautaną‘to beat’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*bautan‘to push, strike, beat’reconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400bouter‘to strike, push’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600bouter
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbouter‘to thrust’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentboutade‘caprice, whim’
- Englishearliest quotation 1884boutade
Earliest quotation: 1884, Henry James, The Path of Duty: “[H]e suddenly broke out, "Well, then, as I understand…”
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *bautaną ‘to beat’
beat, boss, beetle, buttress, bouton, 3 more
through Frankish *bautan ‘to push, strike, beat’
through Old French bouter ‘to strike, push’
Today it means
noun A sudden outbreak or outburst; a caprice, a whim.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *bautaną / boutade