buttock

English

Etymology

Probably from Old English buttuc (“end, short piece of land”), attested since circa 1300, diminutive form of what is presumedly the Old English precursor of butt.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈbʌtək/
• (US) IPA: /ˈbʌtək/, [ˈbəɾək]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

buttock (plural buttocks)

1. (usually in the plural) Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back and the top of the legs.
2. The convexity of a ship behind, under the stern.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of the Maritime Dictionary to this entry?)

Usage notes

The plural form is usually used in the singular sense for a single person's posterior, often called butt. It is rarer to refer to only a single buttock, which is then usually specified as left or right.

Synonyms

• asscheek (crude)
• butt-cheek
• arsecheek (crude)
• bum-cheek
• cheek
• ham
• mound
• (plurale tantum) hurdies pl
• See also Wikisaurus:buttocks

See also

• callipygian/callipygous
• dasypygal

Translations

each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body

• Afrikaans: boude
• Albanian: prapanicë (sq) f
• Arabic: دُبْر (ar) (dubr) m, رِدْف (ar) (ridf) m, رِدْفان (ar) (ridfān) m, أَلْية (ar) (ʔalya) f

  Egyptian Arabic: رِدْف (redf) m, طيز (ṭiiẓ) f, مؤخرة (muʔaxera) f

• Armenian: հետույք (hy) (hetuyk’)
• Breton: peñs (br) m
• Bulgarian: бут (bg) (but) m
• Catalan: natja (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 籮有 (loryau) or 屎忽 (sifucd)

  Mandarin: 屁股 (cmn) (pìgu), 臀部 (cmn) (túnbù)

• Coptic: ⲗⲱⲓⲗ (lōil) f, ⲙⲁⲛϩⲉⲙⲥⲓ (manhemsi) m,ⲫⲁϩⲟⲩ (fahu) m
• Czech: zadek (cs) m (though singular, used for "buttocks"); hýždě (cs) f
• Danish: balde (da) c, balle (da) c
• Dutch: bil (nl) f
• Esperanto: sidvango
• Finnish: pakara (fi)
• French: fesse (fr) f
• Galician: nádega (gl) f
• Georgian: დუნდულოი (ka) (dunduloi)
• German: Hinterbacke (de) f, (colloquial) Pobacke (de) f, Backe (de) f
• Greek: γλουτός (el) (gloutós) m, οπίσθια (el) (opísthia) n pl

  Ancient Greek: πυγή

• Hebrew: עכוז (he) (akuz) m
• Hungarian: fenék (hu)
• Icelandic: rasskinn (is) f
• Italian: gluteo (it) m, natica (it) f, deretano (it), sedere (it), chiappe (it)
• Japanese: 尻 (ja) (しり, shiri)
• Jèrriais: fêsse f

• Korean: 궁둥이 (ko) (gungdung-i), 엉덩이 (ko) (eongdeong-i), 볼기 (ko) (bolgi)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: قن

• Latin: natis (la), clūnis (la)
• Latvian: sēžamvieta f (used for "buttocks"), vaigs (lv)
• Luhya: litakho
• Malay: buntut (ms)
• Malayalam: ചന്തി (chanthi), നിതംബം (nithambam), പൃഷ്ഠം (ml) (prushTam)
• Maori: reherehe (mi), reperepe (mi)
• Ottoman Turkish: ارد (ard), مقعد (mak’ad), دبر (dübür), ادبار (edbâr)
• Persian: سرین (fa) (sorin)
• Polish: pośladek (pl) m, pośladki (pl) pl
• Portuguese: nádega f, traseiro m, fundilhos m pl
• Romanian: bucă (ro) f, buci (ro) f pl
• Russian: ягодица (ru) (jágodica) f (plural: ягодицы (ru) (jágodicy) f pl), попа (ru) (pópa) f (sg. used for buttocks)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic spelling: гуз (sh) m

  Roman spelling: guz (sh) m

• Spanish: nalga (es) f
• Swahili: tako (sw)
• Swedish: skinka (sv)
• Tagalog: puwit
• Telugu: పిరుదు (te) (pirudu)
• Thai: ก้น (th) (kôn)
• Turkish: makat, kaba et, kalça (also the whole butt)
• Vietnamese: mông (vi)
• Volapük: glüet (vo), (older term) poöp (vo)

References

• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• “buttock” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).