Etymology

Japanese 舞踏 ‎(butō), from Middle Chinese 舞踏 (mjú-táw "dance") (compare Mandarin wǔdǎo 舞蹈, Cantonese mou⁵ dou⁶ 舞蹈), from Old Chinese 舞蹈 (*kə.maʔ tˁawʔ "dance [for joy or praise]"), from 舞 ("dance") + 蹈 ("step"). The trailing “h” is to indicate the pronunciation – compare bokeh.