Etymograph

English

abut

Abut comes from Old French but ‘end, aim, purpose’.

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400but‘end, aim, purpose’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500abuttare
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abutten
  4. Englishtodayabut

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400but‘end, aim, purpose’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500abuttare
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abutten
  4. Englishtodayabut

Formed from a- ‘to’ + butt ‘boundary mark’

Proto-Indo-European *uds- ‘up, out’

Proto-Germanic *uz- ‘out-’

Proto-West Germanic *uʀ- ‘up, out, over’

English a-

Old English byt ‘small piece of land’

Middle English but ‘goal, mark, butt of land’

English butt

Linked words

through Old French but ‘end, aim, purpose’

debut, butte, 1 more

Another origin of abut

  1. Old Frenchc. 842–1400aboter‘to touch at one end, border on’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500abutten
  3. Englishtodayabut

Today it means

verb To touch by means of a mutual border, edge or end; to border on; to lie adjacent (to); to be contiguous (said of an area of land)

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Old French but / abut

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