Re: Scientist's etymology vs. scientific etymology
From: Daniel J. Milton
Message: 59072
Date: 2008-06-06
Buck (1949) on butter:
"... first heard of [by the Greeks]as a Scythian product. It is
first reported by Herodotus (4.2) who describes the process of
churning. later by Hippocrates (4.20) who introduces the word
'boutyron'. ...lit. "cow-cheese" but either a translation or
adaptation of a native Scythian word. Hence Lat. 'butyrum' ...."
Somewhere I've seen the Greek specifically labeled "apparent
folk-etymology".