Skip to main content
PlainSpell

button

but·ton/ˈbʌtən/noun, verb

button is spelled B-U-T-T-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (but·ton). It appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Button, the name). As a noun, button means “A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of button is buttons.

How many letters and syllables are in button?

Letters6: B-U-T-T-O-N
Syllables2: but·ton
In writing36 times per million words; the 2,669th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is button?

Button appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Button, the name.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce button?

  • US /ˈbʌtən/
  • US [ˈbʌtʰən] ~ [ˈbʌtʰn̩]
  • US [ˈbʌt̚n̩]

Button has 2 syllables, split but·ton in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-button.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of button

  • buttons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • btn
  • buttoning participle, present
  • buttoned participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does button mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A knob or disc that is passed through a loop or (buttonhole), serving as a fastener.

    April fastened the buttons of her overcoat to keep out the wind.

  2. 2

    A mechanical device designed to be pressed with a finger in order to open or close an electric circuit or to activate a mechanism.

    Pat pushed the button marked "shred" on the blender.

  3. 3

    An on-screen control that can be selected as an activator of an attached function.

    Click the button that looks like a house to return to your browser's home page.

  4. 4

    USA badge worn on clothes, fixed with a pin through the fabric.

    The politician wore a bright yellow button with the slogan "Vote Smart" emblazoned on it.

  5. 5

    A bud.

  6. 6

    The calyx of an orange.

  7. 7

    The head of an unexpanded mushroom.

  8. 8

    slangThe clitoris.

verb

  1. 1

    To fasten with a button.

  2. 2

    To be fastened by a button or buttons.

    The coat will not button.

  3. 3

    informalTo stop talking.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you abbreviate button?

Wiktionary records one abbreviation of button: btn.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Button in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbouton (knob or small disc serving as a fastener), touche (a mechanical device meant to be pressed with a…), badge, macaron (a badge worn on clothes), boutonner (to fasten with a button)
GermanKnopf (knob or small disc serving as a fastener), Taste (a mechanical device meant to be pressed with a…), Schaltfläche, Button (in computer software, an on-screen control that…), Knospe (botany: a bud)
Portuguesebotão (knob or small disc serving as a fastener), bottom (a badge worn on clothes), abotoar (to fasten with a button)
Spanishbotón, brochón (knob or small disc serving as a fastener), pulsador, llamador (a mechanical device meant to be pressed with a…), abotonar, abrochar (to fasten with a button)

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 button come from?

From Middle English boton, botoun, from Old French boton (Modern French bouton), from Old French bouter, boter (“to push; thrust”), ultimately from a Germanic language. Doublet of bouton, Biden, and beat. More at butt.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after button