abut

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Contents

English [edit]

Alternative forms [edit]

Etymology [edit]

  • First attested in the mid 13th century.
  • (of an estate): From Medieval Latin (Anglo-Latin) abuttare, from abuter (“to touch at one end, to come to an end, aim, reach”),[1][2] from but (“end, aim, purpose”); akin to Old Norse butr (“piece of wood”)[1].
    • a- (“to”) +‎ butt (“boundary mark”).[3]
  • (of part of a building): From Middle English abutten,[4] from Old French aboter (“to touch at one end, border on”)[1]abouter (“to join end to end”), abuter (“to buttress, to put an end to”), from a- (“towards”) + bout (“end”), boter, bouter (“to strike”),[5] buter (“to strike, finish”)[4].
    • a- (“towards, change to”) +‎ butt (“push”)[3]

Pronunciation [edit]

Verb [edit]

abut (third-person singular simple present abuts, present participle abutting, simple past and past participle abutted)

  1. (intransitive) To touch by means of a mutual border, edge or end; to border on; to lie adjacent; to project; to terminate; to be contiguous; to meet, of an estate, country, etc. [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][3]
    It was a time when Germany still abutted upon Russia.
    His land abuts on the road.
  2. (intransitive) To lean against on one end; to end on, of a part of a building or wall. [First attested in the late 16th century.][3]
  3. (transitive) To border upon; be next to; abut on; be adjacent to; to support by an abutment. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][3]

Usage notes [edit]

  • (estate or country): Followed by any of the following words: upon, on or (obsolete) to.[1][3]
  • (building): Followed by any of the following words: upon, on, or against.[1][3]

Translations [edit]

to border on

References [edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1976 [1909], Gove, Philip Babcock editor, Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, Springfield, MA: G. & C. Merriam Co., ISBN 0-87779-101-5, page 8:
  2. ^ 1984 [1975], Urdang, Laurence editor, The Random House College Dictionary, New York, NY: Random House, Inc., ISBN 0-394-43600-8, page 7:
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 2003 [1933], Brown, Lesley editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, edition 5th, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-860575-7, page 11:
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 1971 [1969], Morris, William editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, NY: American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc., ISBN 0-395-09066-0, page 6:
  5. ^ 2007 [2002], Lindberg, Christine A. editor, The Oxford College Dictionary, edition 2nd, New York, NY: Spark Publishing., ISBN 978-1-4114-0500-4, page 5:

Anagrams [edit]

Hiligaynon [edit]

Verb [edit]

abút (frequentative abút-abút)

  1. arrive at a place

Verb [edit]

ábut (frequentative abút-ábut)

  1. to catch up with or overtake

Kiput [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Proto-North Sarawak *rabut, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *rabut.

Verb [edit]

abut

  1. to pluck

Yola [edit]

Preposition [edit]

abut

  1. about
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