but if

conjunction

Unless.

First used 13th–16th c.
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Meanings

conjunction
  1. obsoleteUnless.First known use 13th–16th c.

    And therewithall he swange oute a swerde and seyde, ‘But yf thou telle me all who hath ben here, now shalt thou dey!’

    1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VIII
    1 more example

    Ne living aide for her on earth appeares, / But-if the heavens helpe to redresse her wrong, / Moved with pity of her plenteous teares.

    1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
Cite this entry
APA

but if. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/but%20if

MLA

“but if.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/but%20if. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “but if,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/but%20if.

Source: but if on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.