Meaning

noun a loosely woven fabric used for flags, etc.

noun any of numerous seed-eating songbirds of Europe or North America

verb hit a ball in such a way so as to make it go a short distance

origin1922, apparently from Scots buntin (“plump, short and thick (esp. of children)”), itself an old term of endearment for children (1660s); the sense “plump” dates to the 1500s, and may be related to bunt (“belly of a sail”). Possibly related to butt (“(both noun and verb sense: buttocks; strike with head)”) or to bunny (“rabbit”). Compare with the nursery rhyme Bye, baby Bunting (1731), either of…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0