but
French, noun
but is spelled B-U-T (3 letters) and appears 191 times per million words in written French, the 426th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). But is a French masculine noun meaning “aim” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is also a third-person singular past historic of boire. With an accent, bût is a different word: “third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of boire”. The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Objectif, cible”.
What does but mean in English?
noun
- 1
masculineaim
- 2
masculinegoal (result one is attempting to achieve)
- 3
masculinegoal (in the place, act, or point sense)
verb
- 1
third-person singular past historic of boire
verb
- 1
third-person singular imperfect subjunctive of boire
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Objectif, cible. 2. Cage dans laquelle on doit mettre la balle pour marquer. 3. Point marqué en envoyant la balle dans la cible. 4. Point que l’on vise.
prefix: 1. Préfixe indiquant une molécule organique ou un radical portant quatre atomes de carbone.
noun: 1. Diplôme national de l’enseignement supérieur français sanctionnant les trois premières années d'études dans un institut universitaire de technologie (IUT).
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of but
- buts plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
English words that translate to but
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is but in French?
but appears 191 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).