but

BUT/bʌt/

17 meanings of but

1
yetconjunction
Used to introduce something that contrasts with, qualifies or challenges what has just been said or what might be expected.
The plan looked simple on paper, but nothing about it was simple.
I wanted to call you, but my phone was dead.
UsageIt rained, but we went, or Although it rained, we went (not ~~incorrect: Although it rained, but we went~~).
Similaryet
2
conjunction
After a negative clause or phrase, used to introduce what is true instead; on the contrary or rather.
The problem is not the cost but the delay.
He was known not for his speeches but for his silences.
UsagePattern: not X but Y, usually with no comma: not the cost but the delay.
Note
Correction rather than contrast. After a negative, the word supplies the true term in place of the false one: not John but Peter, not rich but poor. The ordinary contrastive use sets a second fact beside the first, whereas this one replaces it.
3
after not onlyconjunction
Introduces a further point, often a stronger one, after “not only,” “not just,” or “not merely,” without expressing contrast.
The storm not only knocked out power but flooded half the town.
The report was not merely late but riddled with errors.
UsagePattern: not only X but (also) Y: not only late but full of errors.

Less common meanings

4
exceptpreposition
Apart from; except or except for; excluding.
Everyone but Marcus remembered to bring a jacket for the hike.
All but two of the boats came back.
UsageCommon in all but, anything but, nothing but, and no choice but to + verb.
Similarexcept, besides, excluding, save, barring
Note
Exception was already part of the meaning of Old English būtan, so this preposition carries an inheritance rather than a later development.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
Old English būtan already expressed exception, and modern but inherits that meaning. en.wiktionary.org
5
conjunction
After a negative, used to mean except, as in could not but admire; in archaic use also 'who or that did not', as in no one there but had lost a friend.
She could not but admire his nerve.
There was no one there but had lost a friend in the war.
UsageFollowed by a verb with no to: could not but admire, can't help but smile.
Note
Two constructions share this meaning. The archaic one drops the subject and works like a negative relative. In Florio's 1603 Montaigne, no reason but hath another contrary means "no reason that does not have an opposite."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The archaic construction omits the subordinate subject and functions as a negative relative. en.wiktionary.org
John Florio's English translation of Montaigne was first published in 1603. clarklibrary.ucla.edu
The quoted wording occurs in Florio's Montaigne, Book II, Chapter XV. pages.uoregon.edu
The quotation means that no reason lacks an opposite. en.wiktionary.org
6
nouncountable
An objection, condition, or caveat; an instance of the word itself.
The offer came with one large but attached.
She listened to all my buts and then said yes anyway.
UsageSet phrases: no ifs, ands, or buts (no arguing) and no buts!
Similarobjection, caveat, condition, reservation, proviso
Note
The conjunction turned into a countable noun with an ordinary plural, buts. It names objections and conditions and lives in two fixed patterns. No ifs, ands, or buts shuts down argument, while this is a big but flags a serious condition. The matching verb supplies the retort but me no buts.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
But has a countable noun use referring to the conjunction itself, with plural buts. en.wiktionary.org
The verb but occurs in the retort but me no buts. en.wiktionary.org
But me no buts is an attested retort cutting off an objection. gutenberg.org
7
adverbliterary
Merely; used to stress how small, slight, or brief something is.
It was but a scratch, the soldier insisted.
Life is but a dream, the old song says.
Similaronly, just, merely, simply
Note
A raised-style "only" with a long pedigree, since Old English būtan could already mean "only." It sits just before what it limits: comes but once a year, read but little, love but her. It gives a line scriptural or poetic weight, as in the 1611 Bible's "we shall but die." In plain prose, only or just does the same work without the solemnity.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Old English būtan could mean "only." en.wiktionary.org
The King James Bible was first published in 1611. archive.org
The Bible quotation "we shall but die" is accurate; it occurs in 2 Kings 7:4. en.wikisource.org
8
emphasisconjunctioncolloquial
Joining an exclamation such as boy or Lord to the remark that follows, for added emphasis.
Boy, but it's cold this morning!
Lord, but that man could talk.
Note
Nothing is being contrasted here. The word passes an exclamation on to the remark that follows and turns up the volume, as in Chuck Berry's Oh, my, but that little country boy could play. It needs an interjection in front of it, such as wow, oh, ooh or jakers. It suits speech, song lyrics and dialogue rather than exposition.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
The quoted words are from Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," written and performed by Berry. en.wiktionary.org
9
conjunctionarchaic
After a negative, unless, or without it also being the case that, introducing what always goes along with the event.
Hardly a week went by but the old man walked to the harbor to watch the ships.
For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so
c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”
Note
Archaic outside a few set phrases. It follows a negative and names what always comes with the event, so never… but amounts to "every time…, also": I never hear this song but I think of you. The proverb it never rains but it pours is the safe modern use. Elsewhere it sounds like Spenser or Hamlet's nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
“It never rains but it pours” is an established proverb. en.wiktionary.org
Spenser used this sense of “but”. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted words occur in Shakespeare’s Hamlet and are spoken by Hamlet. gutenberg.org
10
though (at end)adverbdialectalAustraliaGeordieScotland
Though or however, placed at the end of a sentence.
We missed the bus. Lovely walk home along the beach, but.
She was rude to him. Fair enough, he'd started it, but.
Similarhowever, yet, still, though, nevertheless
Note
A regional usage in which the word comes last. In Australian, Scottish and Geordie speech it closes the sentence where standard English would put though, so I'll have to go home early but means "I'll have to go home early, though." Steele Rudd uses it in 1906, and it still appears in Australian dialogue in 1982. Outside those communities it reads as dialect, so it belongs in quoted speech.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Steele Rudd’s Back at Our Selection was published in 1906. en.wikipedia.org
Steele Rudd used sentence-final “but” in dialogue in Back at Our Selection; the speaker is Regan. gutenberg.net.au
Sentence-final “but” appears in Australian dialogue in My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, cited under 1982. en.wiktionary.org
My Blue-Checker Corker and Me was first published in 1982, rather than that being merely a reprint year. journals.sagepub.com
11
nounrarecountable
A limit or a boundary.
Similarboundary, limit, border, edge
12
preposition
Outside of, now used only in Scotland.
Similaroutside
Oppositeinside, ben
Note
Scots keeps alive the spatial meaning the word began with. Būtan was built from be- and out, so "outside" is its starting point, though the use has died out elsewhere. Away but the hoose means "off outside the house." The same idea names the outer room of a cottage, which lies outside the inner one.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts
Scots preserves the ancestral spatial meaning ‘outside’. en.wiktionary.org
Būtan combines elements equivalent to be- and out. en.wiktionary.org
The Scots example means going outside the house. en.wiktionary.org
The spatial meaning also underlies the name of the cottage’s outer room. worldwidewords.org
13
outer roomnoundialectalScotlandcountable
In Scotland, the outer room of a small two-room cottage, as opposed to the inner room (the ben); the kitchen.
The cottage was a but and a ben and nothing more.
Grandmother slept in the but by the fire.
Similarkitchen
Oppositeben
Note
A Scots house word built on the old "outside" meaning. The but is the room you enter from outside, and the ben lies further in. Together, but and ben names the whole two-roomed cottage. The word belongs to Scottish settings; elsewhere, the plain equivalent is kitchen.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
The house word derives from the old spatial meaning of but. en.wiktionary.org
The traditional arrangement has an outside entrance into the but, with the ben further inside. en.wikipedia.org
But and ben names the whole two-roomed cottage. en.wiktionary.org
14
verbarchaic
To say the word as an objection; to raise objections.
Note
An archaic verb made from the conjunction. It survives almost entirely in the retort but me no buts, meaning "don't keep raising objections." Its forms are regular (buts, butting, butted), but they are rarely seen outside playful use. It works for humor or period color; as an ordinary verb it would puzzle readers.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
The verb is formed by using the conjunction 'but' as a verb. en.wiktionary.org
'But me no buts' is an attested retort meaning to stop raising objections. en.wiktionary.org
The regular inflected forms are 'buts', 'butting', and 'butted'. en.wiktionary.org
15
conjunctionobsolete
Until or before.
'Tshall not be long but I'll be here again.
c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”
Note
Time is at stake here, not exception. After a negated span of time, the word marks the moment that span ends. When Ross tells Lady Macduff in Macbeth that it shall not be long but he'll be here again, he means "it won't be long before I'm back." The construction is obsolete, and until or before has taken its place.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
In this construction, 'but' has a temporal meaning equivalent to 'before'. shakespeare-navigators.ewu.edu
Ross tells Lady Macduff in Macbeth that he will be back before long; the item's wording reports his speech indirectly. folger.edu
Ross's meaning is 'it won't be long before I'm back'. shakespeare-navigators.ewu.edu
16
conjunctionobsolete
Used to mean 'that' after a negated expression of improbability.
It is not improbable but future observations will add Pliny's Well to the class of irregular reciprocators.
1813, Journal of Natural Philosophy
It is not impossible but next year I may have the honour of waiting on your Lordship at St. Asaph, If I go to Ireland I certainly will go that way.
1784, Joshua Reynolds, The Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds
Note
A formal "that" found only after a negated expression of improbability: it is not impossible but she might. Reading but as that turns the double negative into a cautious "it may well be that." Letters, novels and scientific prose still use it in the 1780s and 1810s. Today it is obsolete, and that is the word to use.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
But historically meant 'that' after a negated expression of improbability. en.wiktionary.org
The example is historically attested and expresses a cautious possibility. upload.wikimedia.org
Letters used this construction in the 1780s; Wiktionary cites a Reynolds letter dated 1784. en.wiktionary.org
The novel example belongs to the 1780s: Zeluco first appeared in 1789, rather than in the cited reprint year, 2008. valancourtbooks.com
Scientific prose used this construction in the 1810s; Wiktionary cites the Journal of Natural Philosophy for July 1813. en.wiktionary.org
17
repeat for forceadverb
Used between a word, typically a pronoun or adverb, and a repeat of that same word, to give the statement extra force.
Everyone, but everyone, in town turned out for the parade.
Nothing, but nothing, was going to keep him from his daughter's wedding.

Practice

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Origin

From Middle English "but," from Old English "būtan" ("without, outside of, except, only"), which comes from Proto-West Germanic and is equivalent to "be-" plus "out." It is related to Dutch "buiten" ("outside") and West Frisian "bûten" ("outside of, except").

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

English but derives through Middle English but from Old English būtan. en.wiktionary.org
Old English būtan meant without, outside of, except, and only. en.wiktionary.org
Old English būtan derives from Proto-West Germanic. en.wiktionary.org
The formation is equivalent to be- plus out. en.wiktionary.org
But is cognate with Dutch buiten, meaning outside. en.wiktionary.org
But is cognate with West Frisian bûten, meaning outside of or except. en.wiktionary.org