abut

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Medieval Latin abuttare, from Middle French abuter (“to touch at one end, to come to an end, aim, reach”),[1][2] from Old French but (“end, aim, purpose”); akin to Old Norse butr (“piece of wood”)[1]. Equivalent to a- (“to”) +‎ butt (“boundary mark”).[3]

Verb

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); to be contiguous (said of an area of land) [First attested around 1350 to 1470.][3]
    It was a time when Germany still abutted upon Russia.
    His land abuts on the road.
  2. (transitive) To border upon; be next to; abut on; be adjacent to. [First attested in the mid 19th century.][3]

Usage notes

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

Translations

Etymology 2

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] Equivalent to a- (“towards, change to”) +‎ butt (“push”)[3]

Verb

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

  1. (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]

Usage notes

Followed by any of the following words: upon, on, or against.[1][3]

References
  1. Philip Babcock Gove (editor), Webster's Third International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged (G. & C. Merriam Co., 1976 [1909], →ISBN), page 8
  2. Laurence Urdang (editor), The Random House College Dictionary (Random House, 1984 [1975], →ISBN), page 7
  3. “abut” in Lesley Brown, editor, The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 11.
  4. “abut” in William Morris, editor, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, New York, N.Y.: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1971 [1969], OCLC 299754516, page 6.
  5. “abut” in Christine A. Lindberg, editor, The Oxford College Dictionary, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: Spark Publishing, 2002, →ISBN, page 5.

Anagrams

Hiligaynon

Verb

abút (frequentative abút-abút)

  1. arrive at a place

Verb

ábut (frequentative abút-ábut)

  1. to catch up with or overtake

Kiput

Etymology

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

Verb

abut

  1. to pluck

Limos Kalinga

Noun

abút

  1. hole

Yola

Preposition

abut

  1. about
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