भुट्टा

Derived from Sanskrit भृष्ट (bhṛṣṭa), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *bʰr̥ṣṭás, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *bʰr̥štás, from Proto-Indo-European *bhr̥ǵ-tó-s (“roasted, fried”). An aspirated -ṭh- would be expected from -ṣṭ-, but the unaspirated form is probably from conflation with the reflex of Sanskrit भृक्त (bhṛkta). Cognate with Nepali भुट्नु (bhuṭnu, “to fry, roast”), Bengali ভুট্টা (bhuṭṭa).

Originally meant any fried or roasted foodstuff in Indo-Aryan languages, only near-universally changing to mean maize or corn after the colonial introduction of the plant (compare the similar development in आलू (ālū, “potato”)).

• (Delhi) IPA^(key): /bʱʊʈ.ʈɑː/, [bʱʊʈ̚.ʈäː]

भुट्टा • (bhuṭṭā) m (Urdu spelling بھٹا)

1. corncob, roasted corncob, ear of corn
2. maize, corn

• → Kumaoni: भुट्टा (bhuṭṭā)
• → Nepali: भुट्टा (bhuṭṭā)

• McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “भुट्टा”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press