# buttress

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbʌtɹəs/ · frequency rank #43,068

## Definitions
1. A brick, concrete or stone structure built against another structure to support it.
2. Anything that serves to support something; a prop.
3. A buttress root.
4. A feature jutting prominently out from a mountain or rock.
5. Anything that supports or strengthens.

## Etymology
From Old French ars bouterez (noun, literally “supporting arcs”), from bouterez (adjective), oblique plural of bouteret (rare in the singular), from Frankish *bôtan, from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to push”). Ultimately cognate with beat.

## Easily confused with
- **butters** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/butters-vs-buttress)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bbuttress`, `btutress`, `butress`, `butrtess`, `buttrress`, `buttrses`, `ubttress`

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