Etymologically
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button

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈbʌt.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English boton,[2][3] borrowed from Old French boton (“a button; originally a bud”) (12th century, modern French bouton),[4][3][5] from bouter, boter “to thrust, strike, push”,[4][3][2] of Germanic origin,[4][6] from Proto-Germanic *buttan, from Proto-Indo-European *bhau- (“to strike”).[4] Etymologically a button is something that pushes up or thrusts out.[4] It is related to butt “to thrust” and buttress.[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A knob or ball used to fasten parts of a garment: about 1300 in Etymonline,[4] before 1325 in Barnhart,[3] about 1340 in the OED.[7] The name Botouner “button-maker” is recorded from the mid-13th century,[4] and Barnhart takes it as a sign that the usual sense existed at least fifty years before it is recorded.[3] As a type of something of little value, about 1320.[7]

Semantic evolution

A bud or other button-shaped part of a plant is from about 1400.[7] The knob on a fencing foil gave the verb “to fit with a button” (1615).[7] The verb meant “to furnish with buttons” in the late 14th century and “to fasten with buttons” in the early 15th century;[4][7] button up, to close tightly, is from 1590, in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors.[3] A badge worn to show membership or support is from 1895,[7] and a button pressed to close an electric circuit is attested from the 1840s.[4] In boxing slang the point of the chin is the button by 1921,[4] and button-down collars are from 1916.[4] In Scotland and northern England, to have all one's buttons was to be of sound mind.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 1300 – a fastener.[4]
  • c. 1320 – a thing of little value.[7]
  • c. 1380 – verb, to furnish with buttons.[7][3]
  • c. 1400 – a bud.[7]
  • c. 1440 – verb, to fasten.[7]
  • 1590 – button up.[3]
  • 1840s – a push button.[4]
  • 1895 – a badge.[7]
  • 1916 – button-down.[4]
  • 1921 – the point of the chin.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A small disc or knob sewn to a garment to fasten it through a buttonhole or loop, or for decoration.
  2. A small knob or disc that is pressed to work a machine or switch.
  3. (chiefly US) A badge with a slogan or picture.
  4. Something small and round like a button, as a bud or a young mushroom.
  5. (slang) The point of the chin.

Verb

  1. To fasten with buttons.
  2. To furnish or decorate with buttons.
  3. button up: to close tightly; to keep silent.

Word family

  • buttoner
  • buttony
  • buttonless
  • buttonlike
  • bellybutton
  • buttonball
  • buttonbush
  • buttonhole
  • butt
  • buttress

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ 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)