Wiktionary

but

See also: Appendix:Variations of "but"

English

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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.
  2. (Australia, Geordie, 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.

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.
    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.
  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, 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.
  5. (colloquial) Used to link an interjection to the following remark as an intensifier.
    Wow! But that's amazing!
    • 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.
  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, with other conjunctions such as however or nevertheless being preferred in formal writing.
    • But the tool has its uses.
    • However the tool has its uses.
    • Nevertheless the tool has its uses.

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 2023-02-08:
      "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 2023-01-28:
      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
Indefinte 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”), 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

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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 (first-person possessive butku, second-person possessive butmu, third-person possessive butnya)

  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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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

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”)

Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
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buty

Etymology

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From earlier bót, from Old Czech bot. The change from bót to but was probably influenced by obuty (“shod”).

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 (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)
  2. boot (heavy shoe that covers part of the leg)

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
nouns
phrases

Further reading

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  • but in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • but in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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 (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 (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 (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 (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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Declension of but
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) but butul (niște) buturi buturile
genitive/dative (unui) but butului (unor) 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 (Cyrillic spelling бу̏т)

  1. thigh
  2. ham

Declension

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Declension of but
singular plural
nominative bȕt bùtovi
genitive buta 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 (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024

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

Synonyms

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Volapük

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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but (nominative 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
vocative 1 o but! o buts!
predicative 2 butu butus
  • 1 status as a case is disputed
  • 2 in later, non-classical Volapük only
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