Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

buttermilk

/ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 2.95 in modern English

Syllables
but-ter-milk
IPA
/ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/
18
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
9
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The liquid left over after producing butter from full cream milk by the churning process, also called traditional buttermilk.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

Cultured buttermilk, a fermented dairy product produced from cow's milk, with a characteristically sour taste.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A light yellow color, like that of buttermilk.

Countable; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English butter-melke, equivalent to butter + milk. Cognate with Dutch botermelk (“buttermilk”), German Buttermilch (“buttermilk”), Low German Bottermelk (“buttermilk”), Luxembourgish Bottermëllech (“buttermilk”), Plautdietsch Bottamalkj, Bottamaltj, Bottermalkj, Bottermaltj (“buttermilk”), and Yiddish פּוטערמילך (putermilkh), פּוטער־מילעך (puter-milekh, “buttermilk”).

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: butter-melke

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/
  • British English: /ˈbʌtəˌmɪlk/

Usage

Inflected Forms

buttermilks (plural)

Derived Forms

buttermilked buttermilky

Phrases

Bulgarian buttermilk Devil's buttermilk fly in the buttermilk

Frequently Paired Words

curd milk whey yoghurt

Questions

How do you pronounce buttermilk?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/.
What does buttermilk mean?
The liquid left over after producing butter from full cream milk by the churning process, also called traditional buttermilk.
Where does buttermilk come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce buttermilk

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “buttermilk”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “buttermilk”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “buttermilk” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.