butte
/ˈbjuːt/noun
butte is spelled B-U-T-T-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, butte means “An isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of butte is buttes.
How many letters and syllables are in butte?
| Letters | 5: B-U-T-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 25,751st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is butte?
Butte appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 25,751st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce butte?
- /ˈbjuːt/
- /ˈbʌt/
Butte has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-butte.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with butte
Sounds like: beaut (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of butte
- buttes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does butte mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
USAn isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Butte in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense hill:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | butte, gour |
| German | Härtling |
| Portuguese | planalto |
| Spanish | cuello volcánico, otero, páramo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does butte come from?
Borrowed from French butte (“mound”). Related to butt via a West Germanic cognate.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).