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Origin and history of putti

putti(n.)

"representations of cupid-like nude children common in old art (15c. and after, originally in Italy), 1640s, from Italian putti "small boys," plural of putto, from Latin putus "boy, child" (see puerility).

also from 15c.

Entries linking to putti

puerility(n.)

late 15c., puerilite, "a childish or silly act or expression," from Old French puérilité (15c.), from Latin puerilitatem (nominative puerilitas) "childishness," from puerilis "boyish, youthful; childish, trivial, silly," from puer "child, boy" (from PIE root *pau- (1) "few, little," with sense extended to "small, young;" source also of Latin putus "boy," Sanskrit putrah "son, boy," Avestan puthra- "son, child"). Meaning "puerile character or condition, boyishness" is by 1570s.

*pau-(1)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "few, little."

It might form all or part of: catchpoll; encyclopedia; filly; foal; few; hypnopedia; impoverish; orthopedic; Paedophryne; paraffin; parvi-; parvovirus; paucity; Paul; pauper; pedagogue; pederasty; pedo-; pedophilia; poco; poltroon; pony; pool (n.2) "game similar to billiards;" poor; poulterer; poultry; poverty; puericulture; puerile; puerility; puerperal; pullet; pullulate; Punch; Punchinello; pupa; pupil (n.1) "student;" pupil (n.2) "center of the eye;" puppet; pusillanimous; putti.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit potah "a young animal," putrah "son;" Avestan puthra- "son, child;" Greek pauros "few, little," pais (genitive paidos) "child," pōlos "foal;" Latin paucus "few, little," paullus "little," parvus "little, small," pauper "poor," puer "child, boy," pullus "young animal;" Oscan puklu "child;" Old English feawe "not many, a small number," fola "young horse;" Old Norse fylja "young female horse;" Old Church Slavonic puta "bird;" Lithuanian putytis "young animal, young bird;" Albanian pele "mare."

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    Trends of putti

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    pit
    ground, water hole, well; grave," from Proto-Germanic *putt- "pool, puddle" (source also of Old Frisian pet, Old Saxon putti...
    trend
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    binge
    1854, "drinking bout," also (v.) "drink heavily, soak up alcohol;" dialectal use of binge "soak" (a wooden vessel). Said to have been originally as a dialect word. Binge is noted in Evans' "Leicestershire Words, Phrases and Proverbs" (London, 1848) as a dialect verb for "To soak
    diaphragm
    late 14c., diafragma, in anatomy, "muscular membrane which separates the thorax from the abdominal cavity in mammals," from Late Latin diaphragma, from Greek diaphragma "partition, barrier, muscle which divides the thorax from the abdomen," from diaphrassein "to barricade," from
    glove
    Old English glof "glove, covering for the hand having separate sheaths for the fingers," also "palm of the hand," from Proto-Germanic *galofo "covering for the hand" (source also of Old Norse glofi), probably from *ga- collective prefix + *lofi "hand" (source also of Old Norse lo
    baccalaureate
    1620s, "university degree of a bachelor," from Modern Latin baccalaureatus, from baccalaureus "student with the first degree," an alteration of Medieval Latin baccalarius "one who has attained the lowest degree in a university, an advanced student lecturing under his master's sup
    obvious
    1580s, "frequently met with" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin obvius "that is in the way, presenting itself readily, open, exposed, commonplace," from obviam (adv.) "in the way," from ob "in front of, against" (see ob-) + viam, accusative of via "way" (from PIE root *wegh- "to
    Logos
    1580s, "the divine Word, second person of the Christian Trinity," from Greek logos "word, speech, statement, discourse," also "a computation, account," also "reason, judgment, understanding," from PIE *log-o-, suffixed form of root *leg- (1) "to collect, gather," with derivatives
    melancholy
    c. 1300, melancolie, malencolie, "mental disorder characterized by sullenness, gloom, irritability, and propensity to causeless and violent anger," from Old French melancolie "black bile; ill disposition, anger, annoyance" (13c.), from Late Latin melancholia, from Greek melankhol
    trust
    c. 1200, "reliance on the veracity, integrity, or other virtues of someone or something; religious faith," from Old Norse traust "help, confidence, protection, support," from Proto-Germanic abstract noun *traustam (source also of Old Frisian trast, Dutch troost "comfort, consolat

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    Dictionary entries near putti
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