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Butter comes from Latin būtȳrum, from Ancient Greek βούτυρον ‘cow cheese’ (βοῦς ‘cow’ + τυρός ‘cheese’), and probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- ‘to swell’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷṓws¹named in Wiktionary’s etymology text · steps between not traced
2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tewh₂-¹‘to swell’uncertain
3. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tuh₂-ró-s¹uncertain
4. Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*tūrós¹‘cheese’reconstructed
5. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEτυρός¹turós‘cheese’
6. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβούτυρον¹boútūron‘cow cheese’
7. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEbūtȳrum¹
8. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*buterā¹reconstructed
9. Old Englishc. 450–1150butere¹
10. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500buter¹
11. Englishearliest quotation 2016butter¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English butter
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2016, Elaine Stavert, Beauty Oils & Butter: “Butters such as cocoa, illippe, kokum, mango, murumuru, sal…”.