Focal an Lae #300
The Word of the Day in Irish
Word: botún (BO-toon) [botuːn]
Meaning: botún = blunder, mistake; knife for trimming a horse’s hooves
Usage:
- Rinne mé botún agus chaill mé an cluiche. (RIHN-yuh may BO-toon ah-guhs KHYL may uhn KLIH-huh) [rin′ə m′eː botuːn agəs xail′ m′eː ən clihə]
= I made a blunder and I lost the game.
- botún gramadaí (BO-toon GRAH-muh-dee) [botuːn gramədiː] = a grammatical mistake
History: Classical Irish “butún, butúr” comes from Anglo-Norman *butur, from Old French “boutoir” (farrier’s knife),
from the verb “bouter” (to shove, butt), from Germanic *buttan, from the Indo-European root *bhau- (to strike).
English cognates include “butteris” (farrier’s knife), “beat” and “butt”.