Etymology

Unknown. One theory links it to Transylvanian Saxon Bumstam, equivalent to German Baumstamm. However, while this makes sense for the most common meaning, it doesn't account for the older and rarer meanings or for the Aromanian cognate bushtinã ‎(“soot”), and also the related or derived terms in Romanian, buștenit ‎(“blackened”), buștină ‎(“fog, darkness”), and the regional buștușag ‎(“fire, conflagration, devastation, desolation”), now archaic. These terms all seem to be linked to a derivation of Latin būstum ‎(“place for burning funeral pyres, tomb”), possibly also originally meaning "burnt" (compare combūstus). ^[1]