# but

> English word · Preposition · IPA /ˈbʌt/ · frequency rank #25

## Definitions
1. Apart from, except (for), excluding.
2. Outside of.

## Etymology
From Middle English but, buten, boute, bouten, from Old English būtan (“without, outside of, except, only”), from Proto-West Germanic *biūtan, *biūtini, equivalent to be- + out. Cognate with Scots but, bot (“outside, without, but”), Saterland Frisian buute (“without”), West Frisian bûten (“outside of, apart from, other than, except, but”), Dutch buiten (“outside”), Dutch Low Saxon buten (“outside”), German Low German buuten, buute (“outside”), obsolete German baußen (“outside”), Luxembourgish baussen. Compare bin, about.

## Easily confused with
- **by** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-by)
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-bw)
- **BX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-bx)
- **buy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-buy)
- **bye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-bye)
- **BYU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-byu)
- **butt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-butt)
- **buzz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-buzz)
- **buys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-buys)
- **byte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-byte)
- **bute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-bute)
- **butts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-butts)
- **butch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-butch)
- **butte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-butte)
- **b** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/b-vs-but)
- **be** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/be-vs-but)
- **BC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bc-vs-but)
- **ba** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ba-vs-but)
- **bi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bi-vs-but)
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bs-vs-but)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/but