English
kiss-her-in-the-buttery
From kiss + her + in + the + buttery (“room for keeping food or beverages, storeroom”), from the way the flower’s petals are said to resemble the faces of two people kissing: see the 1891 and 2010 quotations.
A compound of kiss + her + in + the + buttery ‘room for keeping food or beverages, storeroom’
Proto-Indo-European *kw(e)s- ‘to kiss’
…
Proto-Germanic *kussijaną ‘to kiss’
Proto-West Germanic *kussijan ‘to kiss’
Old English cyssan ‘to kiss’
Middle English kissen ‘to kiss’
English kiss
Proto-Indo-European *ḱís ‘this’
Proto-Germanic *hiz ‘this’
Proto-Germanic *hezōi ‘dative singular feminine of *hiz’
Old English hire ‘her’
Middle English here
English her
Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’
Proto-Germanic *in
Proto-West Germanic *in
Old English in
Middle English in ‘inside’
English in
Ancient Greek βούτῡρον ‘butter’
…
Proto-West Germanic *buterā ‘butter’
Old English butere ‘butter’
Middle English buter ‘butter’
Middle English buttry ‘Containing butter or butterfat’
English buttery
Today it means
noun Synonym of wild pansy (“Viola tricolor, a European wildflower with medicinal properties, which was formerly believed to ease heartache”)
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / kiss-her-in-the-buttery