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3001 entries found
butyl (n.)
hydrocarbon radical, 1855, from butyric acid, a product of fermentation found in rancid butter, from Latin butyrum "butter" (see butter (n.)).
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butyric (adj.)
"pertaining to or derived from butter," 1823, from stem of Latin butyrum "butter" (see butter (n.)) + -ic.
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buxom (adj.)
late 12c., buhsum "humble, obedient," from Old English bugen "to bow" (from Proto-Germanic *bugan-, from PIE root *bheug- "to bend") + -som (see -some (1)), for a total meaning "capable of being bent." Related: Buxomly; buxomness.

The meaning progressed from "compliant, obliging," through "lively, jolly," "healthily plump, vigorous and attractive," to (in women, and perhaps influenced by lusty) "attractively plump, comely" (1580s). In Johnson [1755] the primary meaning still is "obedient, obsequious." It was used especially of women's figures from at least 1870s, and by 1950s it had begun to be used more narrowly for "bosomy" and could be paired with slim (adj.). Among its cognates are Dutch buigzaam, German biegsam "flexible, pliable," which hew closer to the original English sense.
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buy (v.)
Old English bycgan (past tense bohte) "get by paying for, acquire the possession of in exchange for something of like value; redeem, ransom; procure; get done," from Proto-Germanic *bugjan (source also of Old Saxon buggjan, Old Norse byggja, Gothic bugjan), which is of unknown origin and not found outside Germanic.

The surviving spelling is southwest England dialect; the word was generally pronounced in Old English and Middle English with a -dg- sound as "budge," or "bidge." Meaning "believe, accept as true" is attested by 1926. Related: Bought; buying. To buy time "prevent further deterioration but make no improvement" is attested from 1946.
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buy (n.)
"a purchase," especially a worthwhile one, 1875, American English, from buy (v.).
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buy-in (n.)
"act of obtaining an interest in," 1970, from verbal phrase buy in "to purchase a commission or stock" (1826), from buy (v.) + in (adv.). To buy into "obtain an interest in by purchase" (as of stock shares) is recorded from 1680s.
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buy-out (n.)
also buy-out, "the purchasing of a controlling share in a company," 1961, from verbal phrase buy out "purchase (someone's) estate and turn him out of it," 1640s, from buy (v.) + out (adv.).
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buyer (n.)
c. 1200, biggere "one who purchases," agent noun from buy (v.). Meaning "one whose job is to buy goods for a store" is from 1884. Buyer's market attested from 1886.
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buzkashi (n.)
Afghan sport, a sort of mounted polo played with a goat carcass, 1956, from Persian buz "goat" + kashi "dragging, drawing."
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buzz (v.)
late 15c. (buzzing is from late 14c.), echoic of bees and other insects. Aviation sense of "fly low and close" is by 1941 (see buzz (n.)). Related: Buzzed. To buzz off "go away quickly" (1914) originally meant "to ring off on the telephone," from the use of buzzers to signal a call or message on old systems. As a command, it originally would have been telling someone to get off the line.
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