bitumen

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mineral pitch, bitumen

Pronounced as (IPA)

[bɪˈtuː.mɛn]

From *bitū + -men, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷétu (“resin, gum”), borrowed from an Osco-Umbrian language, though there exists the possibility of a Celtic borrowing (compare Latin betulla, which is a Celtic borrowing from the same ultimate origin), where the shift of *gʷ > *b is regular. The raising of the first vowel might come from the Osco-Umbrian variety, or have been developed in Latin, as occasionally happens after labials; compare firmus, vitulus. Cognate with Scottish Gaelic bìth (“resin, gum”), English cud, Sanskrit जतु (jatu, “lac, gum”).