English
putto
Putto comes from Italian putto ‘cupid, putto’, from Latin putus ‘boy’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, little’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-1‘few, little’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*puweros1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpuer1‘boy, lad’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūsus1‘(little) boy’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputus1‘boy’variant of pūsus
- Italianc. 1300–presentputto1‘cupid, putto’
- Englishearliest quotation 1938putto1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English putto
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1938, Annals of Thomas Banks: “There is in the porch of the present church…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peh₂w-Wiktionary, English putto‘few, little’uncertain
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*puwerosWiktionary, English puttouncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpuerWiktionary, English putto‘boy, lad’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūsusWiktionary, English putto‘(little) boy’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEputusWiktionary, English putto‘boy’variant of pūsus
- Italianc. 1300–presentputtoWiktionary, English putto‘cupid, putto’
- Englishearliest quotation 1938puttoWiktionary, English putto. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1938, Annals of Thomas Banks: “There is in the porch of the present church…”
The story
The plural form putti is also borrowed from Italian putti.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- ‘few, little’
few, poor, fewer, pose, pause, puppy, puppet, pupil, pediatrics, pave, filly, pedagogy, menopausal, paucity, orthopedics, posada, pupa, 28 more
through Latin puer ‘boy, lad’
through Latin putus ‘boy’
account, count, dispute, imp, computation, compute, amputation, indisputable, indisputably, amputee, raconteur, amputate, imputation, puta, depute, 12 more
Today it means
noun A representation, especially in Renaissance or Baroque art, of a small, naked, often winged (usually male) child; a cherub.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “putto”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- / putto