debut

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /deɪˈbjuː/ UK /ˈdɛbjuː/ See IPA manual

Freq #10353

Meanings

1

noun
A person's first public performance or appearance.

The young striker scored on his debut for the national team.
2

noun
The first public showing of a film, play, product, or other work.

The film made its debut at the Cannes festival.
3

verb
To appear or be presented in public for the first time.

The band will debut their new song at the concert tonight.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

2 noun · the first public showing of... entry

Word family

Forms debuteddebutingdebuts

Derived forms redebutundebuted

Related forms debutantdebutante

Etymology

From French début, from Middle French, derivative of débuter (“to move, begin”), from dé- + but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *butą (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Old English butt (“tree stump”). More at butt. The Philippine sense is influenced by Spanish debut.

début French but Middle English butte Old French *but frk bútr Old Norse *butą Proto-Germanic *bʰewd- Proto-Indo-European debut Spanish

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Theater & Performance

External links

# debut

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /deɪˈbjuː/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈdɛbjuː/
**Frequency rank:** 10353

## Meanings
1. A person's first public performance or appearance.
2. The first public showing of a film, play, product, or other work.
3. To appear or be presented in public for the first time.

## Examples
- The young striker scored on his debut for the national team.
- The film made its debut at the Cannes festival.
- The band will debut their new song at the concert tonight.

## Derived Forms
- redebut
- undebuted

## Related Forms
- debutant
- debutante

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: début
- Root: but
- Root: butte
- Root: *but
- Root: bútr
- Root: *butą
- Root: *bʰewd-
- Root: debut

## Etymology
From French début, from Middle French, derivative of débuter (“to move, begin”), from dé- + but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *butą (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Old English butt (“tree stump”). More at butt. The Philippine sense is influenced by Spanish debut.

## AI Etymology
Debut is from French début, from Middle French, derivative of débuter (“to move, begin”), from dé- + but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *butą (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Old English butt (“tree stump”). More at butt. The Philippine sense is influenced by Spanish debut. In present-day use, it can mean a person's first public performance or appearance, or the first public showing of a film, play, product, or other work. Derived formations include redebut and undebuted.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Theater & Performance

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