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Etymology and origin of the English word but

Pronunciation

  • US: /ˈbɜt/[1]

but1 except; however

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 725 Beowulf
Inherited from
Old English butan via Middle English

Etymology

The conjunction is inherited from Middle English bute, also buten and butan,[2] inherited from Old English būtan (“outside, without, except, unless”), also būton.[3][4][5][6][7] Old English būtan was formed from be (“by”) and ūtan (“outside, from without”), from ūt (“out”);[7][2][6][8] Ayto and Hoad describe it as a West Germanic compound of the ancestors of by and out.[9][4] It matches Old Saxon biūtan, Old High German biūzan and Dutch buiten (“outside”).[3][5][8] Klein compares about.[2] The noun "an objection" comes from the conjunction,[7][10] and the verb, to say "but", from the word itself.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Outside; without, except: Old English būtan is recorded as an adverb and preposition about 725, in Beowulf.[7] Bosworth–Toller gives it as a preposition, "out of, against" and "without, except", and as a conjunction, "unless, save that".[11]

Semantic evolution

The word first meant "outside" and soon came to mean "without, except", as in all but me; the sense "outside" lasted longer in Scotland than elsewhere.[9][3] Etymonline dates its use as a conjunction, "on the contrary", to late Old English,[6] while Hoad and Ayto date the modern adversative conjunction to the 13th century.[4][9] The OED notes that Middle English distinguished stressed forms such as bouten, used for "outside" and "without", from unstressed but, used in the other senses.[3] Chaucer used but as a conjunction nearly 3,000 times.[12] The noun, an objection or exception, appears in Chaucer's Parson's Tale: "alwey he maketh a 'but' at the laste ende".[10][6][7] In northern English dialects the word was also pronounced bud or bo';[13] in 20th-century colloquial Australian, Irish and Scottish English it is also put at the end of a sentence, meaning "though".[3]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – adverb and preposition, outside; without, except.[7][3]
  • late Old English – conjunction, on the contrary.[6] Hoad and Ayto date the adversative conjunction to the 13th century.[4][9]
  • 988 – adverb, only, no more than, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.[3]
  • early 13th century – as an expression introducing a sentence.[6]
  • c. 1390 – noun, an objection, in Chaucer.[7][10][6]
  • 1553 – verb, to say "but".[3]
  • 1629 – but me no buts.[3]
  • 1939 – at the end of a sentence, meaning "though".[3]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. Used to introduce something that contrasts with what has been said: It was sunny but cold.[14][15]
  2. Used to introduce something contrary to expectation: She was tired but kept working.[14][15]
  3. After a negative: without its also being the case that: It never snows but the roads close.[14][15]
  4. but that: except that; that (after a negative).[16][14]
  5. (archaic) Unless; if not.[14][15]

Preposition

  1. Except; apart from: nobody but the cook.[16][15]
  2. (Scotland) Outside; in or into the outer part of a house.[16][15][3]

Adverb

  1. Only, merely: She is but a beginner.[16][3]
  2. (chiefly Australian, Irish and Scottish, informal) At the end of a sentence: though, however.[3]

Noun

  1. An objection or qualification, as in ifs and buts.[16][5]

Verb

  1. but me no buts: raise no objections.[3][5]

Word family

  • all but
  • but for

but2 outer room

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1570

Etymology

The Scots word for the outer room comes from the Scottish use of the adverb and preposition but1 for "outside, in or into the outer room of a house".[3][14][2] It is paired with ben, the inner room, in the phrase “but and ben”, a two-roomed cottage.[5][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

Outer, exterior, usually in but end, the outer end of a house: about 1570, in a Scottish document printed in Fraser's Lennox.[3]

Semantic evolution

The noun, the outer room of a two-roomed house, is recorded from about 1700;[3] Merriam-Webster's first date is 1724,[16] and Collins and the Shorter Oxford also place it in the 18th century.[14][5] Wright's dialect dictionary explains that in Scotland but the hoose was the kitchen end of the house and ben the parlour, although the two words often swapped meanings.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 1570 – adjective, outer, usually in but end.[3]
  • c. 1700 – noun, the outer room of a two-roomed house.[3] Merriam-Webster dates it to 1724.[16]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Scotland) The outer room or kitchen of a two-roomed cottage, as opposed to the ben.[16][5][3]

Adjective

  1. (Scotland) Outer, outside.[3][16]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  9. ^ a b c d Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  10. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  11. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  12. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  15. ^ a b c d e f The Chambers Dictionary (2008), 11th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster

Related etymologies

  • fourteen · also from Old English
  • holly · also from Old English
  • whistle · also from Old English
  • clutch · also from Old English
  • thief · also from Old English
  • spoon · also from Old English
  • sour · also from Old English
  • whore · also from Old English
Cite this entry

“But.” Etymologically, 2 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/but. Accessed 2 Nov. 2026.

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