buttermilk

Meanings

1. The liquid left over after producing butter from full cream milk by the churning process, also called traditional buttermilk.
2. Cultured buttermilk, a fermented dairy product produced from cow's milk, with a characteristically sour taste.
3. A light yellow color, like that of buttermilk.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English butter-melke, equivalent to butter + milk. Cognate with German Low German Bottermelk (“buttermilk”), German Buttermilch (“buttermilk”).