*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of bud

From Middle English budde, bodde (“bud, seed pod”), from Old English *budde, from Proto-West Germanic *buʀdā, from Proto-Germanic *buzdǭ (compare archaic German Butte (“rosehip”), Swedish dialect bodd (“head”)), perhaps

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A newly sprouted leaf or blossom that has not yet unfolded. · Something that has begun to develop. · A small rounded body in the process of splitting from an organism, which may grow into a genetically identical new organism. · Cannabis that has been taken from the flowering part of the plant intended to be smoked.

verb

To form buds. · To reproduce by splitting off buds. · To begin to grow, or to issue from a stock in the manner of a bud, as a horn. · To be like a bud in respect to youth and freshness, or growth and promise.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English budde, bodde (“bud, seed pod”), from Old English *budde, from Proto-West Germanic *buʀdā, from Proto-Germanic *buzdǭ (compare archaic German Butte (“rosehip”), Swedish dialect bodd (“head”)), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”). Compare also German Low German Butte, Butt (“bud”), Dutch bot (“bud”), regional German Butz, Butzen (“seed pod; apple core”), German Low German Haagbutt ("rosehip"; Haagbudden (“rosehips”, plural)).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionbuddeenm
  • Inherited-form mention*buddeang
  • Inherited-form mention*buʀdāgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*buzdǭgem-pro
  • Cognate mentionButtede · rosehip
  • Derivation mention*bʰew-ine-pro
  • Cognate mentionbotnl · bud
  • Cognate mentionButzde

This page abbreviates 5 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "name": "inh",
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "budde"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English budde"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "*budde"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English *budde"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*buʀdā"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *buʀdā"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*buzdǭ"
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    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Butte",
        "t": "rosehip"
      },
      "expansion": "German Butte (“rosehip”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰew-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "Butte"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German Butte"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "bot",
        "t": "bud"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch bot (“bud”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Butz"
      },
      "expansion": "German Butz"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "Haagbutt"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German Haagbutt"
    },
    {
      "name": "gl",
      "args": {
        "1": "\"rosehip\"; <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"nds\">Haagbudden</i> (“rosehips”, plural)"
      },
      "expansion": "(\"rosehip\"; Haagbudden (“rosehips”, plural))"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "magnolia",
      "magnolia"
    ],
    [
      "budde",
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    ],
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      "bodde",
      "bodde#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "*budde",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/budde"
    ],
    [
      "*buʀdā",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/buʀdā"
    ],
    [
      "*buzdǭ",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/buzdǭ"
    ],
    [
      "Butte",
      "Butte#German"
    ],
    [
      "bodd",
      "bodd#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "*bʰew-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰew-"
    ],
    [
      "*bu-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bu-"
    ],
    [
      "Butte",
      "Butte#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "Butt",
      "Butt#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "bot",
      "bot#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Butz",
      "Butz#German"
    ],
    [
      "Butzen",
      "Butzen#German"
    ],
    [
      "Haagbutt",
      "Haagbutt#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "Haagbudden",
      "Haagbudden#Low_German"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A newly sprouted leaf or blossom that has not yet unfolded.",
        "Something that has begun to develop.",
        "A small rounded body in the process of splitting from an organism, which may grow into a genetically identical new organism.",
        "Cannabis that has been taken from the flowering part of the plant intended to be smoked."
      ],
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      "pos": "verb",
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        "To form buds.",
        "To reproduce by splitting off buds.",
        "To begin to grow, or to issue from a stock in the manner of a bud, as a horn.",
        "To be like a bud in respect to youth and freshness, or growth and promise."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
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Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Buddy, friend. · Synonym of guy, term of address for a man or person. · Brother.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Back-formation from buddy.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "bf",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "buddy"
      },
      "expansion": "Back-formation from buddy"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "buddy",
      "buddy#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Buddy, friend.",
        "Synonym of guy, term of address for a man or person.",
        "Brother."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US",
        "informal",
        "rare"
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for bud →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YnVk