Added 7 October 2026
boot
/buːt/ noun
In Latin: pero, cothurnus, caliga Wiktionary
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about boot at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A heavy shoe that covers part of the leg. A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football (historically in the form of boots, now shorter, but still called the same).
- A kind of sports shoe worn by players of certain games such as cricket and football (historically in the form of boots, now shorter, but still called the same).
- A blow with the foot; a kick.
verb
noun
- Remedy, amends.
- Profit, plunder.
- That which is given to make an exchange equal, or to make up for the deficiency of value in one of the things exchanged; compensation; recompense.
verb
- To be beneficial, to help.
- To matter; to be relevant.
- To enrich.
Origin
From Middle English boote, bote (“shoe”), from Old French bote (“a high, thick shoe”). Of obscure origin, but probably related to Old French bot (“club-foot”), bot (“fat, short, blunt”), from Old Frankish *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz, *butaz (“cut off, short, numb, blunt”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewt-, *bʰewd- (“to strike, push, shock”); if so, a doublet of butt. Compare Old Norse butt (“stump”), Low German butt (“blunt, plump”), Old English bytt (“small piece of land”), buttuc (“end”). More at buttock and debut.
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)