buttock
English
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Human_buttocks.jpg/220px-Human_buttocks.jpg)
Etymology
From Middle English buttok, probably from Old English buttuc (“end; end piece”; also, “short piece of land”). Attested with its current anatomical meaning since 1300. A diminutive form of what is presumably the Old English precursor of butt + -ock (diminutive suffix).
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 307: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbʌtək/, /ˈbɐtək/
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 307: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "US" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈbʌtək/, [ˈbəɾək]
Audio (US): (file)
Noun
buttock (plural buttocks)
- (usually in the plural) Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back, the perineum and the top of the legs.
- The convexity of a ship behind, under the stern.
- 1925, Adventure, Volume 54
- There came a blast of freezing wind that made Skell shrug himself against the oaken post on which the ship's buttock rested.
- 1925, Adventure, Volume 54
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
- hurdies (plural only)
- See also Thesaurus:buttocks
Derived terms
Translations
each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body
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See also
References
- Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
- Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “buttock”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms suffixed with -ock
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Buttocks