Meanings
abut1
present singular third person abuts · participle present abutting · participle past abutted · past abutted · alternative abutt
- transitiveTo border upon; be next to; abut on; be adjacent to.First known use First attested in the mid-19ᵗʰ century.
For quotations using this term, see Citations:abut.
abut2
present singular third person abuts · participle present abutting · participle past abutted · past abutted · alternative abutt
- intransitiveTo lean against on one end; to end on, of a part of a building or wall.First known use First attested in the late 16ᵗʰ century.
Synonyms & antonyms
verblie adjacent to another or share a boundary
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
abut · verb
- Old Frenchbut“end, aim, purpose”
- Old Frenchabuter
- Medieval Latinabuttare
- Middle Englishabutten
- Englishabut
From Middle English abutten, from Medieval Latin abuttare and Old French abuter, aboter, abouter (“to touch at one end, to come to an end, aim, reach”), from Old French but (“end, aim, purpose”); akin to Old Norse butr (“piece of wood”). Equivalent to a- (“to”) + butt (“boundary mark”).
More words from Middle English, Medieval Latin, Old French
Full word history & related roots →abut · verb
- Old Frenchaboter“to touch at one end, border on”
- Middle Englishabutten
- Englishabut
From Middle English abutten, from Old French aboter (“to touch at one end, border on”), abouter (“to join end to end”), abuter (“to buttress, to put an end to”), from a- (“towards”) + bout (“end”), boter, bouter (“to strike”), buter (“to strike, finish”). Equivalent to a- (“towards, change to”) + butt (“push”)
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian гранича, опирам се о
- гранича (graniča)to border on
- опирам се о (opiram se o)to border on
Czech sousedit, hraničit
- souseditto touch by means of a mutual border
- hraničitto touch by means of a mutual border
- přiléhatto touch by means of a mutual border
- hraničitto border on
Dutch grenzen
- grenzento border on
Finnish koskettaa, olla vieretysten
- koskettaato touch by means of a mutual border
- olla vieretystento touch by means of a mutual border
- rajoittuato border on
French jouxter, aboutir
- jouxterto touch by means of a mutual border
- aboutirto border on
- abouterto border on
German angrenzen, angrenzen
- angrenzento touch by means of a mutual border
- angrenzento border on
- berührento border on
Greek εδράζομαι
- εδράζομαι (edrázomai)to border on
Hungarian érintkezik, összeér
- érintkezikto touch by means of a mutual border
- összeérto touch by means of a mutual border
- érintto border on
- határosto border on
- szomszédosto border on
Māori kāpīpiti, aki
- kāpīpitito border on
- akito border on
- karipapato border on
Polish graniczyć, przylegać
- graniczyćto touch by means of a mutual border
- przylegaćto touch by means of a mutual border
- graniczyćto border on
- przylegaćto border on
Romanian învecina
- învecinato border on
Russian грани́чить, примыка́ть
- грани́чить (graníčitʹ)to border on
- примыка́ть (primykátʹ)to border on
- прилега́ть (prilegátʹ)to border on
- упира́ться (upirátʹsja)to border on
Slovak hraničiť
- hraničiťto border on
Spanish lindar, colindar
- lindarto touch by means of a mutual border
- colindarto touch by means of a mutual border
- limitarto touch by means of a mutual border
- bordearto border on
Swedish gränsa till
- gränsa tillto border on
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with abut
Anagrams
Cite this entry
abut. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abut
“abut.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abut. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “abut,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/abut.
Source: abut on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.