butte

/ˈbjuːt/

//ˈbjuːt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"butte" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“butte” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #25,693) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#25,693
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top.

Corpus desk

Index EN-butte · butte · English

butte · rank #25,693 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,693
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bugged

Nearest frequency peer: bugged (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “butte”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “butte” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

butte vs byte
60% similar
butte vs butts
80% similar
butte vs button
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for butte
PropertyValue
Headwordbutte
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbjuːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,693
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “butte”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).buttelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “bugged” (#25,691), “Cambridgeshire” (#25,695), “Brutus” (#25,690). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “butte” is #25,693. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for butte is neighbouring look-alikes ("byte", "butts", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈbjuːt/. Frequency #25,693 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Gloss: "An isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for butte, with forms such as "bbutte", "btute", and "butet". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "byte", "butts", "button", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *bʰudʰmḗn Borrowed from French butte (“mound”). Related to butt via a West Germanic cognate. The correct English form is butte, spelled B-U-T-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    An isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how butte appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Those multitoned buttes and mesas [of the Grand Canyon], and that incandescent sequence of colorful bands that make one of the natural wonders of the world so grand, can also be found over 100 million miles away [on Mars].

Etymology

PIE word *bʰudʰmḗn Borrowed from French butte (“mound”). Related to butt via a West Germanic cognate.

This word in other languages

otero(Español)butte(Français)Härtling(Deutsch)planalto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbutte
  • btute
  • butet
  • ubtte

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of butte - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bbutte1btute2butet2ubtte2
Edit distance from "butte"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "butte"?
"butte" is spelled B-U-T-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbjuːt/.
What does "butte" mean?
As a noun, "butte" means: An isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top.
What words are commonly confused with "butte"?
"butte" is commonly confused with "byte", "butts", "button". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "butte"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "butte" is /ˈbjuːt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "butte"?
PIE word *bʰudʰmḗn Borrowed from French butte (“mound”). Related to butt via a West Germanic cognate. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "butte", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

booed#25,684Benji#25,679BAFTA#25,674Arden#25,663

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list