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but

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: Appendix:Variations of "but"

Translingual

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Etymology

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Clipping of English Bungain with t as a placeholder.

Symbol

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but

  1. (international standards) ISO 639-3 language code for Bungain.

See also

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

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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

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Preposition

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but

  2. Apart from, except (for), excluding.
    Synonyms: barring, except for, save for; see also Thesaurus:except
    Everyone but Father left early.
    I like everything but that.
    Nobody answered the door when I knocked, so I had no choice but to leave.
    • 2011 October 23, Becky Ashton, “QPR 1-0 Chelsea”, in BBC Sport:
      Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.
  3. (obsolete outside Scotland) Outside of.
    Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there.

Adverb

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but (not comparable)

  1. (chiefly literary or poetic) Merely, only, just, no more than
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:merely
    Christmas comes but once a year, so we can but wait till then.
  2. (Australia, Geordie, Scotland, conjunctive) Though, however.
    Synonyms: even so, nevertheless, notwithstanding, yet; see also Thesaurus:nevertheless
    I'll have to go home early but.
    • 1906, "Steele Rudd", Back At Our Selection, page 161:
      "Supposin' the chap ain't dead, but?" Regan persisted.
    • 1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 16:
      ‘I didn’t like that sheila that tried to latch onto him, but.’

Conjunction

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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).
    She is very old but still attractive.
    She’s welcomed them but been rude to us.
    You told me I could do that, but she said that I could not.
  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).
    I am not rich but [I am] poor.  Not John but Peter went there.
    It’s not so much that we don’t wanna go, but I just haven’t time.
  3. (colloquial) Used at the beginning of a sentence to express opposition to a remark.
    But I never said you could do that!
    • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume IV, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book X:
      In reality, I apprehend every amorous widow on the stage would run the hazard of being condemned as a servile imitation of Dido, but that happily very few of our play-house critics understand enough of Latin to read Virgil.
    • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
      Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits.
      Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
    • 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:
      Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.
  4. Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, (archaic) with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "except such that".
    I cannot but feel offended.
    My kid does nothing but watch TV all day.
  5. (colloquial) Used to link an interjection to the following remark as an intensifier.
    Wow! But that's amazing!
    • 1958 March 31, Chuck Berry, “Johnny B. Goode”, performed by Chuck Berry:
      Oh, the engineers would see him sitting in the shade / Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made / People passing by, they would stop and say / "Oh, my, but that little country boy could play"
    • 1974 February 4, “Bennie and the Jets”, in Elton John (lyrics), Bernie Taupin (music), Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, performed by Elton John, Davey Johnstone, Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, track 3:
      Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet? / Ooh, but they're so spaced out / B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets / Oh, but they're weird and they're wonderful / Oh, Bennie, she's really keen
    • 2013, Nora Roberts, Irish Thoroughbred‎[1], Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 25:
      "Jakers, but we worked." With a long breath she shut her eyes. "But it was too much for one woman and a half-grown girl […] "
  6. (archaic) Without it also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant).
    It never rains but it pours
    I never hear this song but I think of you.
  7. (obsolete) Except with; unless with; without.
    • 1639, Thomas Fuller, “Unseasonable Discords betwixt King Baldwine and His Mother; Her Strength in Yeelding to Her Sonne”, in The Historie of the Holy Warre, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck, one of the printers to the Universitie of Cambridge [and sold by John Williams, London], →OCLC, book II, page 84:
      This man unable to manage his own happineſſe, grew ſo inſolent that he could not go, but either ſpurning his equals, or trampling on his inferiours.
  8. (obsolete) Only; solely; merely.
  9. (obsolete) Until.
  10. (obsolete, following a negated expression of improbability) That. [16th–19th c.]
    • 1784, Joshua Reynolds, edited by John Ingamells and John Edgcumbe, The Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Yale, published 2000, page 131:
      It is not impossible but next year I may have the honour of waiting on your Lordship at St. Asaph, If I go to Ireland I certainly will go that way.
    • 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 132:
      “I am convinced, if you were to press this matter earnestly upon her, she would consent.”
      “It is not impossible but she might,” said Madame de Seidlits […] .
    • 1813 July, Journal of Natural Philosophy:
      It is not improbable but future observations will add Pliny's Well to the class of irregular reciprocators.

Usage notes

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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

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

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but (plural buts)

  1. An instance of using the word "but"; an objection or caveat.
    It has to be done—no ifs, ands, or buts.
    But—and this is a big but—you have to come home by sundown.
    • 1922 March 4, “Fed on Fear Too Much”, in The Pathfinder, volume 29, number 1470, Washington, D.C.: Pathfinder Publishing Company, page 33:
      The children are taught to be afraid of winter, of war, of death, of hard times, of disease, of examtinations. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that children so seldom find the conversation of their elders uplifting. It is full of don’ts, buts and nots.
    • 2016 December 28, Concepcion de Leon, “5 Things Well-Meaning People Say to Me That Are Actually Really Offensive”, in Glamour‎[2], Greenwich, C.T.;  […]: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 February 2023:
      "I support you/understand where you're coming from, but..." ¶ No. No "buts" when it comes to other people's survival.
    • 2018 September 17, Catriona Harvey-Jenner, “8 foods you should never eat before a workout”, in Cosmopolitan‎[3], New York, N.Y.: Hearst Communications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 January 2023:
      But - and this is a pretty important but - it's just as bad to eat the wrong thing before a workout as it is to eat nothing at all.
  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

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Verb

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

  1. (archaic) Use the word "but".
    But me no buts.

Derived terms

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Terms derived from the preposition, adverb, conjunction, or noun but

References

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Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology

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From Middle Low German butt.

Adjective

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but

  1. (rare) blunt

Inflection

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Inflection of but
positive comparative superlative
indefinite common singular but — —2
indefinite neuter singular but — —2
plural butte — —2
definite attributive1 butte — —

1 When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2 The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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French

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Etymology 1

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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”).

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

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Noun

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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
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From boire.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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but

  1. third-person singular past historic of boire

Further reading

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Iban

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Adjective

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but

  1. stinky

Indonesian

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Noun

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but (plural but-but)

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

References

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Maltese

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Root
b-w-t
3 terms

Etymology

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Probably from Arabic بُوطَة (būṭa).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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

  1. pocket
  2. (figuratively) money

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Conjunction

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but

  1. but
Descendants
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  • English: but
  • Scots: but
  • Yola: mot
References
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Etymology 2

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Noun

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but

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

Old Polish

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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but m inan

  1. alternative form of bot

Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl
buty

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-der.
Proto-Germanic *bautaną
Frankish *bautander.?
Old French botebor.
Old Czech botbor.
Old Polish bot
Polish but

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

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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

    1. shoe
      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

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    Declension of but
    singular plural
    nominative but buty
    genitive buta butów
    dative butowi butom
    accusative but/buta buty
    instrumental butem butami
    locative bucie butach
    vocative bucie buty

    Derived terms

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    adverbs
    interjections
    nouns
    particles
      phrases
      prepositions
      proverbs
      verbs

      Further reading

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      Pumpokol

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      Alternative forms

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      Etymology

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      Inherited from Proto-Yeniseian *bes (“rabbit”).

      Noun

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      but (W.)

      1. (zoology) hare

      Further reading

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      • Werner, Heinrich (2005), Die Jenissej-Sprachen des 18. Jahrhunderts, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 180

      Romani

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      Etymology

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      Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀩𑀳𑀼𑀢𑁆𑀢 (bahutta),[1] from Sanskrit बहुत्व (bahutva, “much, many, very”).[1][2] Cognate with Hindi बहुत (bahut).

      Adjective

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      but (oblique bute)

      1. much[1][2][3][4]
      2. many[1][2][3]
        But rroma mekhle i India thaj gele p-e aver phuva.
        Many Roma left India and went towards other lands.

      Adverb

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      but

      1. very[1][4][5]

      References

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      1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Boretzky, Norbert; Igla, Birgit (1994), “but”, in Wörterbuch Romani-Deutsch-Englisch für den südosteuropäischen Raum : mit einer Grammatik der Dialektvarianten [Romani-German-English dictionary for the Southern European region] (in German), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, →ISBN, page 39b
      2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “bahutva”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 519
      3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Marcel Courthiade (2009), “but B-ćham: -e I”, in Melinda Rézműves, editor, Morri angluni rromane ćhibǎqi evroputni lavustik = Első rromani nyelvű európai szótáram : cigány, magyar, angol, francia, spanyol, német, ukrán, román, horvát, szlovák, görög [My First European-Romani Dictionary: Romani, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Greek] (overall work in Hungarian and English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 97a
      4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Yūsuke Sumi (2018), “but”, in ニューエクスプレスプラス　ロマ（ジプシー）語 [New Express Plus Romani (Gypsy)] (in Japanese), Tokyo: Hakusuisha, published 2021, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 147
      5. ^ Marcel Courthiade (2009), “but II”, in Melinda Rézműves, editor, Morri angluni rromane ćhibǎqi evroputni lavustik = Első rromani nyelvű európai szótáram : cigány, magyar, angol, francia, spanyol, német, ukrán, román, horvát, szlovák, görög [My First European-Romani Dictionary: Romani, Hungarian, English, French, Spanish, German, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Greek] (overall work in Hungarian and English), Budapest: Fővárosi Onkormányzat Cigány Ház--Romano Kher, →ISBN, page 97a

      Romanian

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوت (but).

      Noun

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      but n (plural buturi)

      1. thigh of an animal

      Declension

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      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative but butul buturi buturile
      genitive-dative but butului buturi buturilor
      vocative butule buturilor

      Scots

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      Noun

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      but (plural buts)

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

      Preposition

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      but

      1. Outside of, without.

      Serbo-Croatian

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      Etymology

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      Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بوت (but).

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      bȕt m inan (Cyrillic spelling бу̏т)

      1. thigh
      2. ham

      Declension

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      Declension of but
      singular plural
      nominative bȕt bùtovi
      genitive bùta butova
      dative butu butovima
      accusative but butove
      vocative bute butovi
      locative butu butovima
      instrumental butom butovima

      References

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      • “but”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026

      Turkish

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      Alternative forms

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      Etymology

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

      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      but (definite accusative butu, plural butlar)

      1. thigh
        Synonym: uyluk

      Declension

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      Declension of but
      singular plural
      nominative but butlar
      definite accusative butu butları
      dative buta butlara
      locative butta butlarda
      ablative buttan butlardan
      genitive butun butların
      Possessive forms
      nominative
      singular plural
      1st singular butum butlarım
      2nd singular butun butların
      3rd singular butu butları
      1st plural butumuz butlarımız
      2nd plural butunuz butlarınız
      3rd plural butları butları
      definite accusative
      singular plural
      1st singular butumu butlarımı
      2nd singular butunu butlarını
      3rd singular butunu butlarını
      1st plural butumuzu butlarımızı
      2nd plural butunuzu butlarınızı
      3rd plural butlarını butlarını
      dative
      singular plural
      1st singular butuma butlarıma
      2nd singular butuna butlarına
      3rd singular butuna butlarına
      1st plural butumuza butlarımıza
      2nd plural butunuza butlarınıza
      3rd plural butlarına butlarına
      locative
      singular plural
      1st singular butumda butlarımda
      2nd singular butunda butlarında
      3rd singular butunda butlarında
      1st plural butumuzda butlarımızda
      2nd plural butunuzda butlarınızda
      3rd plural butlarında butlarında
      ablative
      singular plural
      1st singular butumdan butlarımdan
      2nd singular butundan butlarından
      3rd singular butundan butlarından
      1st plural butumuzdan butlarımızdan
      2nd plural butunuzdan butlarınızdan
      3rd plural butlarından butlarından
      genitive
      singular plural
      1st singular butumun butlarımın
      2nd singular butunun butlarının
      3rd singular butunun butlarının
      1st plural butumuzun butlarımızın
      2nd plural butunuzun butlarınızın
      3rd plural butlarının butlarının

      Volapük

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      Pronunciation

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      Noun

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      but (genitive buta, plural buts)

      1. boot

      Declension

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      Declension of but
      Singular Plural
      Nominative but buts
      Genitive buta butas
      Dative bute butes
      Accusative buti butis
      Predicative1 butu butus
      Vocative o but o buts
      1. Introduced in Volapük Nulik.
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