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buttock

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "buttock", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "buttock" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "buttock" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

buttock is aEnglishnoun. It means: Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back, the perineum, and the top of the legs. Pronounced /ˈbʌtək/.

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Key facts for buttock
PropertyValue
Headwordbuttock
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʌtək/
Letters7
Frequency rank#54,065
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of buttock in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for buttock is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbʌtək/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,065 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No misspelling variants are generated for buttock in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English buttok, probably from Old English buttuc (“end; end piece”; also, “short piece of land”). Attested with its current anatomical meaning since 1300. A diminutive form of what is presumably the Old English precursor of butt + -ock… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is buttock, spelled B-U-T-T-O-C-K, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back, the perineum, and the top of the legs.
  2. 2
    The convexity of a ship behind, under the stern.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English buttok, probably from Old English buttuc (“end; end piece”; also, “short piece of land”). Attested with its current anatomical meaning since 1300. A diminutive form of what is presumably the Old English precursor of butt + -ock (diminutive suffix).

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #54,065 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "buttock"?
"buttock" is spelled B-U-T-T-O-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʌtək/.
What does "buttock" mean?
As a noun, "buttock" means: Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back, the perineum, and the top of the legs.
How do you pronounce "buttock"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "buttock" is /ˈbʌtək/. 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 "buttock"?
Inherited from Middle English buttok, probably from Old English buttuc (“end; end piece”; also, “short piece of land”). Attested with its current anatomical meaning since 1300. A diminutive form of what is presumably the Old English precursor of b... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.