putus.

Uncertain. Potentially from earlier *ph₁u-tós or *ph₂u-tós, alternatively from *puHtós if pretonic shortening ("Dybo's law") affected words of this shape (however, Schrijver argues that such shortening in Latin was likely restricted to cases where a liquid followed the vowel, citing invītus as counterevidence). Zair doubts that Schrijver is correct to distinguish between outcomes of preconsonantal *CHu- and *CuH-, arguing that *CHu- probably became *CuH- by metathesis already in Proto-Indo-European. Based on the meaning of the derived verb putō, the original sense of the adjective is assumed to have been "cut" or "cut off". Schrijver proposes this developed along the lines of "pruned" > "cleansed" > "clean, pure". *Possibly from a root *peh₂w- (“to hit, strike”) shared with paviō (“to beat, strike”) and Ancient Greek παίω (paíō). De Vaan cites Janda 2000, who postulates that *peh₂w- was extended from an earlier root *peh₂-, and that pūrus (“pure”) and Proto-Indo-European *puHrós (“wheat/a type of grain”) are also cognate. The "strike" root has alternatively been reconstructed as going back to an earlier *pyeh₂w-. *In contrast, Schrijver derives putus from earlier *ph₁u-tós, from a root *peh₁w- (“to cut”), distinct both from the root of paviō (which Schriver derives from *peh₂w- (“to hit, strike”)) and from the root of pūrus (which Schrijver derives from *puh₂-, from a root *ph₂u- related to the PIE word for fire (see *péh₂wr̥ (“fire”). Schrijver rejects the comparison of Latin putus and Sanskrit पूत (pūtá).

Conjecture proposed by Joseph Scaliger in his edition of the Catalepton 7 (of disputed authorship; traditionally attributed to Virgil). Three manuscripts read "pothus" and the others read "potus"; accordingly, more recent editions read Pothus (“Desire”), i.e. personified Ancient Greek πόθος (póthos). If the conjecture is spurious, the term would be a ghost word. If genuine, putus would match the base form of pusillus, putillus (see the former for details) as well as a number of Italic and Indo-European cognates. For this reason it has found a circulation in etymological works and is included as a headword by De Vaan. See Proto-Italic *putlos and Latin puer, pūsus, pullus.