Butt Definition

Origin of Butt

• From Middle English but, butte (“goal, mark, butt of land”), from Old English byt, bytt (“small piece of land”) and *butt (attested in diminutive buttuc (“end, small piece of land”) > English buttock), from Proto-Germanic *butaz, *buttaz (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudnó-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰaud-, *bʰed-, *bʰau- (“to beat, push”). Cognate with Norwegian butt (“stump, block”), Icelandic bútur (“piece, fragment”), Low German butt (“blunt, clumsy”). Influenced by Old French but, butte (“but, mark”), ultimately from the same Germanic source. Related to beat, boot.

  From Wiktionary

• From Middle English butten, from Anglo-Norman buter, boter (“to push, butt, strike”), from Old Frankish *bōtan (“to hit, beat”), from Proto-Germanic *bautaną (“to beat, push”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰÀud-, *bʰÀu- (“to beat, push, strike”). Cognate with Old English bēatan (“to beat”). More at beat.

  From Wiktionary

• Middle English butten from Anglo-Norman butter (variant of Old French bouter butt¹) and from but end butt⁴

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• Middle English butten from Old French bouter to strike of Germanic origin bhau- in Indo-European roots

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• Middle English butte target from Old French from but goal, end, target butt⁴

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• Middle English from Old French boute from Late Latin buttia variant of buttis

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

• Middle English butte from Old French but end of Germanic origin

  From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition