The Spanish verb 'botar' (meaning 'to throw' or 'to toss') has an interesting journey through Germanic and Latin languages. It originated from the Proto-Germanic word '*bautaną' which meant 'to beat' or 'to strike'. This evolved into the Frankish term '*bōtan' (meaning 'to beat'), which was then borrowed into Vulgar Latin as 'bottare' meaning 'to push' or 'strike'. Finally, it developed into the Spanish 'botar', where the meaning shifted slightly from striking or pushing to the more specific action of throwing or tossing.

A common related Spanish word is 'rebote' (rebound or bounce), which comes from 're-' (again) + 'botar'. You might also recognize 'botado' (thrown away, discarded) and 'botadura' (launching of a ship). These words all share the core meaning of something being propelled or thrown.

While English doesn't have many direct cognates from this Germanic root, we can find some related words that entered English through French, such as 'butt' (as in 'to butt heads') and 'button' (originally referring to something that was pushed). The connection becomes clearer when we consider the original meaning of striking or pushing in the Proto-Germanic ancestor.