"button" in seven languages
Meaningbutton
Spanish
botón
/boˈton/
masc.borrowed · French bouton
French
bouton
/butɔ̃/
masc.inherited
Also a bud and a pimple.
Italian
bottone
/botˈtone/
masc.borrowed · French bouton
Portuguese
botão
/boˈtɐ̃w/
masc.borrowed · French bouton
Romanian
nasture
/ˈnasture/
masc.other source · of uncertain origin
plural: nasturi
Catalan
botó
/buˈto/
masc.borrowed · French bouton
English
button
/ˈbʌtən/
from Latin/French · Old French boton
English → ItalianbuttonbottoneCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The ancestor
Frankish *bōtan‘to push, thrust (French bouter)’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
A button is something that 'pushes out' — like a bud on a branch, which is the other meaning of French bouton. Spanish and French also use it for the button you press; Italian usually says pulsante or tasto.
English relatives: button, butt, buttress
Learn it
In a sentence
- esHe perdido un botón.
- frJ'ai perdu un bouton.
- itHo perso un bottone.
- ptPerdi um botão.
- roAm pierdut un nasture.
- caHe perdut un botó.
- enI've lost a button.