*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of put

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *putōną Proto-West Germanic *putōn Old English putian Middle English putten English put From Middle English putten, pitten, pytten, puten, poten, from Old English putian, *pūtian ("to push,

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 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

Ellipsis of put option (“right to sell something at a predetermined price”) · The act of putting; an action; a movement; a thrust; a push. · An old card game.

verb

To physically place (something or somebody, in, at, around, etc. someplace) · To place in abstract; to attach or attribute; to assign. · To bring or set (into a certain relation, state or condition). · To express (something in a certain manner).

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

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *putōną Proto-West Germanic *putōn Old English putian Middle English putten English put From Middle English putten, pitten, pytten, puten, poten, from Old English putian, *pūtian ("to push, put out"; attested by derivative putung (“pushing, impulse, instigation, urging”)) and potian (“to push, thrust, strike, butt, goad”), both from Proto-West Germanic *putōn, from Proto-Germanic *putōną (“to stick, stab”), which is of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bud- (“to shoot, sprout”), which would make it cognate with Sanskrit बुन्द (bundá, “arrow”), Lithuanian budė, and budis (“mushroom, fungus”). Compare also related Old English pȳtan (“to push, poke, thrust, put out (the eyes)”). Cognate with Dutch poten (“to set, plant”), Low German paten (“to set, plant”), Danish putte (“to put”), Swedish putta, pötta, potta (“to strike, knock, push gently, shove, put away”), Norwegian putte (“to set, put”), Norwegian pota (“to poke”), Icelandic pota (“to poke”), Dutch peuteren (“to pick, poke around, dig, fiddle with”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Inherited-form mentionputtenenm
  • Inherited-form mentionputianang
  • Inherited-form mention*putōngmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*putōnągem-pro · to stick, stab
  • Derivation mention*bud-ine-pro · to shoot, sprout
  • Cognate mentionबुन्दsa
  • Cognate mentionbudėlt
  • Cognate mentionpȳtanang · to push, poke, thrust, put out (the eyes)
  • Cognate mentionpotennl · to set, plant
  • Cognate mentionpatennds · to set, plant
  • Cognate mentionputteda · to put
  • Cognate mentionputtasv
  • Cognate mentionputteno · to set, put
  • Cognate mentionpotano · to poke
  • Cognate mentionpotais · to poke
  • Cognate mentionpeuterennl · to pick, poke around, dig, fiddle with

This page abbreviates 9 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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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:putten",
        "id": "place",
        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Germanic *putōną\nProto-West Germanic *putōn\nOld English putian\nMiddle English putten\nEnglish put\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*putōn\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"putian\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"putten\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"put\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"place\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"put\" id=\"English:_place\">"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "putten"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English putten"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "putian"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English putian"
    },
    {
      "name": "gloss",
      "args": {
        "1": "\"to push, put out\"; attested by derivative <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"ang\">putung</i> (“pushing, impulse, instigation, urging”)"
      },
      "expansion": "(\"to push, put out\"; attested by derivative putung (“pushing, impulse, instigation, urging”))"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*putōn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *putōn"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*putōną",
        "t": "to stick, stab"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *putōną (“to stick, stab”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "unc",
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        "1": "en",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "uncertain"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bud-",
        "t": "to shoot, sprout"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bud- (“to shoot, sprout”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sa",
        "2": "बुन्द",
        "3": "",
        "4": "arrow",
        "tr": "bundá"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit बुन्द (bundá, “arrow”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "lt",
        "2": "budė"
      },
      "expansion": "Lithuanian budė"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "pȳtan",
        "t": "to push, poke, thrust, put out (the eyes)"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English pȳtan (“to push, poke, thrust, put out (the eyes)”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "poten",
        "t": "to set, plant"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch poten (“to set, plant”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds",
        "2": "paten",
        "t": "to set, plant"
      },
      "expansion": "Low German paten (“to set, plant”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "putte",
        "t": "to put"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish putte (“to put”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "putta"
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish putta"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "putte",
        "t": "to set, put"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian putte (“to set, put”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "pota",
        "t": "to poke"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian pota (“to poke”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "is",
        "2": "pota",
        "t": "to poke"
      },
      "expansion": "Icelandic pota (“to poke”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "peuteren",
        "t": "to pick, poke around, dig, fiddle with"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch peuteren (“to pick, poke around, dig, fiddle with”)"
    },
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      },
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    }
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  "links": [
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      "*putōną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/putōną"
    ],
    [
      "*putōn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/putōn"
    ],
    [
      "putian",
      "putian#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "putten",
      "putten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "putten",
      "putten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "pitten",
      "pitten#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "pytten",
      "pytten#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "puten",
      "puten#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "poten",
      "poten#Middle_English"
    ],
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      "putian#Old_English"
    ],
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      "*pūtian",
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    ],
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      "putung#Old_English"
    ],
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      "potian",
      "potian#Old_English"
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    ],
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      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/putōną"
    ],
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      "*bud-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bud-"
    ],
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      "बुन्द",
      "बुन्द#Sanskrit"
    ],
    [
      "budė",
      "budė#Lithuanian"
    ],
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      "budis",
      "budis#Lithuanian"
    ],
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      "pȳtan",
      "pytan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "poten",
      "poten#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "paten",
      "paten#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "putte",
      "putte#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "putta",
      "putta#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "pötta",
      "pötta#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "potta",
      "potta#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "putte",
      "putte#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "pota",
      "pota#Norwegian"
    ],
    [
      "pota",
      "pota#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "peuteren",
      "peuteren#Dutch"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Ellipsis of put option (“right to sell something at a predetermined price”)",
        "The act of putting; an action; a movement; a thrust; a push.",
        "An old card game."
      ],
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      ],
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    },
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      "pos": "verb",
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        "To physically place (something or somebody, in, at, around, etc. someplace)",
        "To place in abstract; to attach or attribute; to assign.",
        "To bring or set (into a certain relation, state or condition).",
        "To express (something in a certain manner)."
      ],
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "lexicalSenses": 9,
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A fellow, especially an eccentric or elderly one; a duffer.

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

Unknown. Perhaps related to Welsh pwt, itself possibly borrowed from English butt (“stub, thicker end”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Cognate mentionpwtcy
  • Cognate mentionbutten · stub, thicker end
Inspect preserved source fields

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

{
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      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown"
    },
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      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "pwt"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh pwt"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "butt",
        "t": "stub, thicker end"
      },
      "expansion": "English butt (“stub, thicker end”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "pwt",
      "pwt#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "butt",
      "butt#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
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        "A fellow, especially an eccentric or elderly one; a duffer."
      ],
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        "obsolete"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
noun

A prostitute.

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

From Old French pute.

Relationships mentioned by the source

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

  • Derivation mentionputefro
Inspect preserved source fields

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

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        "1": "en",
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        "3": "pute"
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      "expansion": "Old French pute"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "pute",
      "pute#Old_French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A prostitute."
      ],
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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 put →

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-cHV0