# butt

> English word · Noun · IPA /bʌt/ · frequency rank #4,430

## Definitions
1. The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end
2. The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end
3. The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end
4. The larger or thicker end of something; the blunt end, in distinction from the sharp or narrow end
5. The waste end of anything.
6. The waste end of anything.
7. The waste end of anything.
8. The waste end of anything.
9. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
10. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
11. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
12. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
13. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
14. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
15. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
16. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
17. An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.
18. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
19. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
20. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
21. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.
22. A limit; a bound; a goal; the extreme bound; the end.

## Etymology
From Middle English but, butte (“goal, mark, butt of land”), from Old English byt, bytt (“small piece of land”) and *butt (attested in diminutive Old English buttuc (“end, small piece of land”) > English buttock), from Proto-West Germanic *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰnós (“bottom”), later thematic variant of Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn ~ *bʰudʰn-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”).
Cognate with Norwegian butt (“stump, block”), Icelandic bútur (“piece, fragment”), Low German butt (“blunt, clumsy”). Influenced by Old French but, butte (“but, mark”), ultimately from the same Germanic source. Compare also Albanian bythë (“buttocks”), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of vessel”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) and Sanskrit बुध्न (budhná, “bottom”), from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to bottom, boot.
 PIE word
 *bʰudʰmḗn

## Easily confused with
- **buy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-buy)
- **buzz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-buzz)
- **buys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-buys)
- **byte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-byte)
- **butts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-butts)
- **butte** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-butte)
- **button** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-button)
- **butter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-butter)
- **butted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butt-vs-butted)
- **Bt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bt-vs-butt)
- **but** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/but-vs-butt)
- **bit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bit-vs-butt)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bus-vs-butt)
- **bet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bet-vs-butt)
- **bat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bat-vs-butt)
- **bug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bug-vs-butt)
- **bud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bud-vs-butt)
- **BTW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/btw-vs-butt)
- **bot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bot-vs-butt)
- **bum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bum-vs-butt)

## Common misspellings (3)
`bbutt`, `btut`, `ubtt`

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