noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/ˈbʌtɚˌmɪlk/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbʌtəˌmɪlk/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:B AH1 T ER0 M IH2 L K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The liquid left over after producing butter from full cream milk by the churning process, also called traditional buttermilk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Cultured buttermilk, a fermented dairy product produced from cow's milk, with a characteristically sour taste.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A light yellow color, like that of buttermilk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
residue from making butter from sour raw milk; or pasteurized milk curdled by adding a culture
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: milk
History
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”).
Across languages
Translations
120 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Albanian:
dhallë
— traditional buttermilk
Arabic:
مَخِيض
(maḵīḍ)
— traditional buttermilk
Arabic:
مَمْخُوض
(mamḵūḍ)
— traditional buttermilk
Armenian:
թան
(tʻan)
— traditional buttermilk
Aromanian:
dhalã
— traditional buttermilk
Aromanian:
dalã
— traditional buttermilk
Belarusian:
па́хта
(páxta)
— traditional buttermilk
Belarusian:
маслёнка
(masljónka)
— traditional buttermilk
Bulgarian:
мъ́теница
(mǎ́tenica)
— traditional buttermilk
Catalan:
sèrum de mantega
— traditional buttermilk
Chinese Mandarin:
酪乳
(làorǔ)
— traditional buttermilk
Chinese Mandarin:
酪漿 /酪浆
(làojiāng)
— traditional buttermilk
Czech:
podmáslí
— traditional buttermilk
Danish:
kærnemælk
— traditional buttermilk
Dutch:
karnemelk
— traditional buttermilk
Dutch:
botermelk
— traditional buttermilk
Esperanto:
buterlakto
— traditional buttermilk
Estonian:
pett
— traditional buttermilk
Estonian:
petipiim
— traditional buttermilk
Estonian:
võipiim
— traditional buttermilk
Faroese:
blak
— traditional buttermilk
Finnish:
kirnupiimä
— traditional buttermilk
French:
babeurre
— traditional buttermilk
West-Frisian:
sûpe
— traditional buttermilk
Galician:
soro de manteiga
— traditional buttermilk
Georgian:
დო
(do)
— traditional buttermilk
German:
Buttermilch
— traditional buttermilk
Greek:
βουτυρόγαλα
(voutyrógala)
— traditional buttermilk
Gujarati:
છાશ
(chāś)
— traditional buttermilk
Hawaiian:
wai koʻana waiū paka
— traditional buttermilk
Hebrew:
חובצה \ חֻבְצָה
(khuvtsá)
— traditional buttermilk
Hindi:
छाछ
(chāch)
— traditional buttermilk
Hindi:
मट्ठा
(maṭṭhā)
— traditional buttermilk
Hungarian:
író
— traditional buttermilk
Icelandic:
áfir
— traditional buttermilk
Ingrian:
kirnumaito
— traditional buttermilk
Ingrian:
pettömaito
— traditional buttermilk
Ingrian:
pettopiimä
— traditional buttermilk
Ingrian:
pettypiimä
— traditional buttermilk
Irish:
bláthach
— traditional buttermilk
Old Irish:
bláthach
— traditional buttermilk
Italian:
latticello
— traditional buttermilk
Japanese:
バターミルク
(batāmiruku)
— traditional buttermilk
Kannada:
ಮಜ್ಜಿಗೆ
(majjige)
— traditional buttermilk
Kazakh:
іркіт
(ırkıt)
— traditional buttermilk
Korean:
버터밀크
(beoteomilkeu)
— traditional buttermilk
Ladin:
nida
— traditional buttermilk
Lao:
ກາກນ້ໍານົມ
(kāk nam nom)
— traditional buttermilk
Latvian:
paniņas
— traditional buttermilk
Low German:
Karnmelk
— traditional buttermilk
Low German:
Karmelk
— traditional buttermilk
Low German:
Kernmelk
— traditional buttermilk
Low German:
Bottermelk
— traditional buttermilk
Luxembourgish:
Bottermëllech
— traditional buttermilk
Macedonian:
матеница
(matenica)
— traditional buttermilk
Manx:
bainney geayr
— traditional buttermilk
Marathi:
ताक
(tāk)
— traditional buttermilk
Norman:
lait d'beurre
— traditional buttermilk
Norwegian Bokmål:
kjernemelk
— traditional buttermilk
Norwegian Bokmål:
kjernemjølk
— traditional buttermilk
Norwegian Nynorsk:
kjernemjølk
— traditional buttermilk
Pannonian Rusyn:
цмар
(cmar)
— traditional buttermilk
Persian:
دوغ
(duġ)
— traditional buttermilk
Persian:
پینو
(pinu)
— traditional buttermilk
Plautdietsch:
Bottamalkj
— traditional buttermilk
Plautdietsch:
Bottamaltj
— traditional buttermilk
Plautdietsch:
Bottermalkj
— traditional buttermilk
Plautdietsch:
Bottermaltj
— traditional buttermilk
Polish:
maślanka
— traditional buttermilk
Portuguese:
leitelho
— traditional buttermilk
Portuguese:
soro de manteiga
— traditional buttermilk
Punjabi:
ਛਾਹ
(chāh)
— traditional buttermilk
Punjabi:
ਲੱਸੀ
(lassī)
— traditional buttermilk
Romanian:
zară
— traditional buttermilk
Russian:
па́хта
(páxta)
— traditional buttermilk
Sanskrit:
तक्रम्
(takram)
— traditional buttermilk
Santali:
ᱜᱷᱳᱨ
(ghor)
— traditional buttermilk
Scottish Gaelic:
blàthach
— traditional buttermilk
Serbo-Croatian:
mlaćènica
— traditional buttermilk
Serbo-Croatian:
stȅpka
— traditional buttermilk
Slovak:
cmar
— traditional buttermilk
Slovene:
pinjenec
— traditional buttermilk
Spanish:
suero de mantequilla
— traditional buttermilk
Swedish:
kärnmjölk
— traditional buttermilk
Tamil:
மோர்
(mōr)
— traditional buttermilk
Telugu:
చల్ల
(calla)
— traditional buttermilk
Telugu:
మజ్జిగ
(majjiga)
— traditional buttermilk
Tibetan:
དར་བ
(dar ba)
— traditional buttermilk
Turkish:
yayık ayranı
— traditional buttermilk
Ukrainian:
масля́нка
(masljánka)
— traditional buttermilk
Ukrainian:
сколо́тини
(skolótyny)
— traditional buttermilk
Urdu:
چھاچھ
(chāch)
— traditional buttermilk
Uzbek:
ayron
— traditional buttermilk
Uzbek:
ardob
— traditional buttermilk
Vietnamese:
kho thực phẩm
— traditional buttermilk
Volapük:
böridamilig
— traditional buttermilk
Volapük:
milegamilig
— traditional buttermilk
Volapük:
milemilig
— traditional buttermilk
Welsh:
llaeth enwyn
— traditional buttermilk
Welsh:
enwyn
— traditional buttermilk
Yiddish:
פּוטערמילך
(putermilkh)
— traditional buttermilk
Yiddish:
פּוטער־מילעך
(puter-milekh)
— traditional buttermilk
Yiddish:
מאַסלינקע
(maslinke)
— traditional buttermilk
Yiddish:
מאַסליאַנקע
(maslyanke)
— traditional buttermilk
Yiddish:
מאַשלינקע
(mashlinke)
— traditional buttermilk
Arabic:
دُوغ
(dūḡ)
— cultured buttermilk
Chinese Mandarin:
發酵酪乳 /发酵酪乳
(fājiào làorǔ)
— cultured buttermilk