An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Schmant

by Friedrich Kluge

Schmant, masculine (Livonian, Low German, and Hessian), ‘cream,’ from the equivalent late Middle High German smant, borrowed in the 15th century from Slavonic; compare Bohemian smant. With Bohemian smetana (Russian smetana, ‘cream’) is connected the dialectic (Silesian, Bohemian, and Austrian) Schmetten, ‘cream,’ to which Schmetterling is probably related.