but

English Online Dictionary. What means but‎? What does but mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English but, buten, boute, bouten, from Old English būtan (“without, outside of, except, only”), from Proto-West Germanic *biūtan, *biūtini, equivalent to be- +‎ out. Cognate with Scots but, bot (“outside, without, but”), Saterland Frisian buute (“without”), West Frisian bûten (“outside of, apart from, other than, except, but”), Dutch buiten (“outside”), Dutch Low Saxon buten (“outside”), German Low German buuten, buute (“outside”), obsolete German baußen (“outside”), Luxembourgish baussen. Compare bin, about.

Pronunciation

• (stressed form)
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /bʌt/, [bɐt], enPR: bŭt
  • (US) IPA^(key): /bʌt/, enPR: bŭt
  • (Northern England) IPA^(key): /bʊt/
  • (South Wales) IPA^(key): /bət/
  • (Ireland) IPA^(key): /bʊʔ/
• (unstressed form) IPA^(key): /bət/, enPR: bət
• Rhymes: -ʌt
• Homophone: butt

Preposition

but

2. Apart from, except (for), excluding.

   Synonyms: barring, except for, save for; see also Thesaurus:except
3. (obsolete outside Scotland) Outside of.

Adverb

but (not comparable)

1. (chiefly literary or poetic) Merely, only, just, no more than

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:merely
2. (Australia, Geordie, conjunctive) Though, however.

   Synonyms: even so, nevertheless, notwithstanding, yet; see also Thesaurus:nevertheless

Conjunction

but

1. However, although, nevertheless, on the other hand (introducing a clause contrary to prior belief or in contrast with the preceding clause or sentence).

2. On the contrary, rather (as a regular adversative conjunction, introducing a word or clause in contrast or contradiction with the preceding negative clause or sentence).

3. (colloquial) Used at the beginning of a sentence to express opposition to a remark.
4. Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "except such that".
5. (colloquial) Used to link an interjection to the following remark as an intensifier.
6. (archaic) Without it also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant).
7. (obsolete) Except with; unless with; without.
8. (obsolete) Only; solely; merely.
9. (obsolete) Until.
10. (obsolete, following a negated expression of improbability) That. [16th–19th c.]

Usage notes

It is generally considered colloquial to use but at the beginning of a sentence:
“But the tool has its uses!”
Other conjunctions, such as however or nevertheless, are considered more proper for that end, and are thus preferred in formal writing:
“However, the tool still has its uses.”
“Nevertheless, the instrument could still be used for its raison d'être.”

Synonyms

• abbur (Chester)
• (except): bar, unless, excepting, excluding, with the exception of, without
• (however): yet, although, ac

Translations

Noun

but (plural buts)

1. An instance of using the word "but"; an objection or caveat.
2. (Scotland) The outer room of a small two-room cottage.
3. A limit; a boundary.
4. The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt.

Derived terms

Verb

but (third-person singular simple present buts, present participle butting, simple past and past participle butted)

1. (archaic) Use the word "but".

Derived terms

References

• “but”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “but”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Anagrams

• BTU, TBU, tub

Danish

Etymology

From Middle Low German butt.

Adjective

but

1. (rare) blunt

Inflection

Synonyms

• stump

Antonyms

• spids

French

Etymology 1

From Middle French but (“mark, goal”), from Old French but (“aim, goal, end, target”), from Old French butte (“mound, knoll, target”), from Frankish *but (“stump, log”), or from Old Norse bútr (“log, stump, butt”); both from Proto-Germanic *buttaz (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰewd- (“to beat, push”).

Cognate with Old English butt (“tree stump”); see butt. The semantic development from "mound" to "target" is likely from martial training practice. The final /t/ is from the old pausal and liaison pronunciation; its (partial) restoration as the basic form may have been reinforced by related butte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /by/
  • Homophones: bu, bue, bues, bus, bût, buts
• (outside Canada now more often) IPA^(key): /byt/
  • Homophones: bute, butent, butes, bûtes, buts, butte, buttent, buttes

Noun

but m (plural buts)

1. aim
2. goal (result one is attempting to achieve)
3. (sports) goal (in the place, act, or point sense)

Synonyms

• fin
• objectif
• dessein
• point

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From boire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /by/
• Homophones: bu, bue, bues, bus, bût, buts

Verb

but

1. third-person singular past historic of boire

Further reading

• “but”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Iban

Adjective

but

1. stinky

Indonesian

Noun

but (plural but-but)

1. (computing) bootstrap (process by which the operating system of a computer is loaded into its memory)

References

• “but” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Maltese

Etymology

Probably from Arabic بُوطَة (būṭa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /buːt/
• Rhymes: -uːt

Noun

but m (plural bwiet, diminutive bwejjet or buta or bwejta)

1. pocket
2. (figuratively) money

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English būtan, from Proto-West Germanic *biūtan, *biūtini, equivalent to be- +‎ out.

Alternative forms

• bute, buten, boute, bouten
• botte, bot, bod

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /but/

Conjunction

but

1. but

Descendants

• English: but
• Scots: but
• Yola: mot

References

• “but, conj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

Noun

but

1. (Northern) Alternative form of bote (“boot”)

Old Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /but/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /but/

Noun

but m inan

1. Alternative form of bot

Polish

Alternative forms

• bot (Middle Polish)
• bót (obsolete or dialectal, Lubawa)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Polish bot, which see for more on the change in the vowel.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ut
• Syllabification: but
• Homophone: bud

Noun

but m inan or m animal (diminutive bucik or butek, augmentative bucior or bucisko)

1. shoe (protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of leather or synthetic material)
   1. boot (heavy shoe that covers part of the leg)
2. (Chełmno, unit of measure) Synonym of stopa
3. (construction, sailing) keel block (wooden base on which the support that holds the ship's hull during rests for construction)
4. pile shoe (metal tip to a pole that is to be driven into the ground)
5. (Chełmno, Suwałki, unit of measure) Synonym of stopa
6. (obsolete, humorous, in the plural) seventy seven (the number 77 is a game of chance)
7. (Middle Polish) boot (horse leg protector, worn for therapeutic purposes)

Declension

Derived terms

Further reading

• but in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• but in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “but”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “BUT”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 28.04.2010
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “but”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “but”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “but”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 240
• Jan Karłowicz (1900) “but”, in Słownik gwar polskich [Dictionary of Polish dialects] (in Polish), volume 1: A do E, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 143
• but in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
• Kazimierz Nitsch (1907) “but”, in “Dyalekty polskie Prus zachodnich”, in Materyały i Prace Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności w Krakowie (in Polish), volume 3, Krakow: Akademia Umiejętności, page 387

Romani

Etymology

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀩𑀳𑀼𑀢𑁆𑀢 (bahutta), from Sanskrit बहुत्व (bahutva, “much, many, very”). Cognate with Hindi बहुत (bahut).

Adjective

but (oblique bute)

1. much
2. many

Adverb

but

1. very

References

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوت (but).

Noun

but n (plural buturi)

1. thigh of an animal

Declension

Scots

Noun

but (plural buts)

1. The outer room of a small two-room cottage.

Preposition

but

1. Outside of, without.

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوت (but).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bût/

Noun

bȕt m (Cyrillic spelling бу̏т)

1. thigh
2. ham

Declension

References

• “but”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Turkish

Alternative forms

• bud (dialectal)

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بود (bud), بوت (but), from Proto-Turkic *būt. Compare Old Turkic [script needed] (būt).

Pronunciation

Noun

but (definite accusative butu, plural butlar)

1. thigh

Synonyms

• uyluk

Volapük

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /but/

Noun

but (nominative plural buts)

1. boot

Declension