What does butt mean?
"Butt" is a versatile English word serving both noun and verb functions. As a noun, its most familiar modern use — informal and especially American — names the buttocks, while older senses persist: the stub of a smoked cigarette, the thick or blunt end of a tool such as a rifle, and, in hunting and archery contexts, historical references to targets and large casks. As a verb, "butt" means to strike or shove with the head or horns, a behavior typical of goats, sheep, and cattle; figuratively, a person can be the "butt" of a joke, meaning the target of mockery. The word carries a casual, sometimes comic register in its bodily sense, so writers often prefer euphemisms like "bottom" in formal prose, yet its other senses are entirely neutral. With roots stretching through Old French and Middle English, "butt" has accumulated meanings across sport, craft, and humor, making it a small word with a surprisingly rich history worth knowing.
The buttocks (informal, chiefly US); also the stub end of a cigarette, or the thick/blunt end of a tool or weapon.
"She sat down hard on the cold bench, rubbing her sore butt."
Informal in the anatomical sense; neutral otherwise.
To strike or push against something with the head or horns.
"The ram butted the gate until it swung open."
Regular verb: butts, butted, butting.
Standard plural; commonly seen in "cigarette butts."
"Ashtrays overflowed with cigarette butts outside the bar."
"Butt" has worn many hats over the centuries — a target for archery, a huge wine cask, a goat's headbutt, and only much later, cheekily, your rear end.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of butt
The verb "butt," meaning to strike with the head, comes from Old French "boter" (to push, strike), of Germanic origin, and entered Middle English in the medieval period; it is related to the word "button." The noun senses developed along several lines: the archaic "butt" as a large cask came via Old French "but" or Medieval Latin "buttis," while the "thick end" sense likely arose from notions of bluntness. The informal anatomical sense is a later development, becoming widespread in American English in the nineteenth century.
Related word forms
How butt is actually used
The buttocks sense is informal and common in American English; British English more often uses 'bum' or 'bottom'. The 'target of jokes' sense is well established ('the butt of the joke'). The verb is standard and unmarked in register.
Easily confused with butt
A butte is a steep-sided flat-topped hill, whereas a butt is an end of something, the buttocks, or a push with the head.
As an archaic measure, a butt was a large cask for wine or ale, unrelated in meaning to the everyday senses.