English
but
But comes from Old English būtan ‘without, outside of, except, only’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *biūtan.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*biūtan‘outside’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150būtan‘without’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500but
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*biūtan‘outside’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150būtan‘without’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500but
- Englishearliest quotation 1590same form
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto VI: “No arboret with painted blossomes drest, / And smelling…”
Linked words
through Old English būtan ‘without, outside of, except, only’
through Middle English but
Today it means
prep Apart from, except (for), excluding.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.