Middle English Dictionary Entry
buttok n.
Entry Info
| Forms | buttok n. Also bot(t)-, -ok(k)e, -eke. |
| Etymology | OE buttuc, & cp. ME butte (4). |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A buttock; pl. rump, posteriors; (b) rump, posteriors; (c) element in personal names.
Associated quotations
a
- c1300 SLeg.Mich.(LdMisc 108)725 : Al I-buyd þe leggues beoz..þe helene to þe bottokes, þe kneuwene in eiþur eiȝe.
- a1325 Gloss.Bibbesw.(Cmb Gg.1.1)135 : Nages: bottokes [vr. buttockes].
- c1350 Cmb.Ee.4.20.Nominale (Cmb Ee.4.20)50 : Nages reynz et costeez, Buttokkes lyndes and ribbes.
- (a1387) Trev.Higd.(StJ-C H.1)2.209 : He hadde þe þridde legge growynge oute aboue þe buttokkes byhynde.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Rv.(Manly-Rickert)A.3975 : This wenche thikke and wel y-growen was..With buttokes brode and brestes rounde and hye.
- (a1398) *Trev.Barth.(Add 27944)249b/b : Often children ben ychastised and beten on þe bare buttokkes.
- a1400 Lanfranc (Ashm 1396)12/18 : Ventose him on þe two buttokkis.
- c1400(?c1390) Gawain (Nero A.10)967 : Hir body watz schort and þik, Hir buttokez balȝ and brode.
- ?a1425 *Chauliac(1) (NY 12)19a/a : Þe buttokes or þe lendes bene grosse musculous fleshez ordeynd aboue þe bonez of þe þies.
- (?1440) Palladius (DukeH d.2)4.812 : And buttokes haue they [good horses] right grete & rounde.
- (1451) Capgr.St.Gilb.(Add 36704)120/2 : Sche crap with hir handys and with hir lendes, or buttokkes.
- a1500 Mayer Nominale (Mayer)677/17 : Hec natis: a buttoke.
b
- c1300 SLeg.Edm.Abp.(Hrl 2277)163 : A strong rop þer was..ido To his buttok.
- c1350 Gloss.Bibbesw.(Hrl 740)135 fn. : Les nages: buttok.
- (c1390) Chaucer CT.Mil.(Manly-Rickert)A.3803 : And out his ers he putteth pryuely, Ouer the buttok [vr. buttokes] to the haunche bon.
- (c1395) Chaucer CT.Sum.(Manly-Rickert)D.2142 : Bynethe my buttok ther shaltow fynde A thyng that I haue hyd in pryuetee.
- a1425 *Medulla (Stnh A.1.10)43b/a : Nates: an hepe, buttok, or an ers.
- (1440) PParv.(Hrl 221)56 : Buttok: Nates.
- a1450 Castle Persev.(Folg V.a.354)202 : Bothe þe bak & þe buttoke brestyth al on brenne.
- c1475(c1450) Idley Instr.(Cmb Ee.4.37)2.B.44 : Go firther, than, to the shap of hir clothis: They be cutted on the buttok even aboue the rompe.
- ?c1475 *Cath.Angl.(Add 15562)20a : A Buttoke: nates, natica, naticula.
- ?a1500 Lndsb.Nominale (Lndsb)750/7 : Hec nates, Anglice, a botok.
c
- (1268) Close R.Hen.III447 : Robertus Briddebuttok.
- (1317) Deed Norris in LCRS 93196 : Ric. Buttoc [grants to Hen. Stote..a burgage].
2.
A small strip of land [cp. OE use]; -- in field names only.
Associated quotations
- (a1300) EPNSoc.16 (Wil.)425 : Le Sortebuttokes.
- (1328) EPNSoc.16 (Wil.)425 : Le Buttokes.
- (1422) EPNSoc.16 (Wil.)425 : Les Buttekes.
- (1438) EPNSoc.16 (Wil.)425 : Collebottekes.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
- a1450 Treat.Horses (Sln 2584)85/20 : Þe..hors..schalt..be..wel I-growe to his heythe & strongliche I-made, longe sydes & fleyscheful & grete boddockes & rounde.
Note: New form: Pl. boddockes.
Note: Quot. belongs to sense 1.(a).
Note: Modify gloss in sense 1.(a): "One of the two rounded, fleshy prominences of the rump of humans and beasts, a buttock; pl. rump, posteriors;".
Note: Modify gloss in sense 1.(b): "rump, buttocks, posteriors;".
Note: The list of variant spellings in the form section is incomplete and needs revision to accord with standards of later volumes of the MED. Provisional revised form section: Also buttoke, botok (in name) buttoc; pl. buttokes, etc. & buttokez, buttokkes, buttockes, bottokes, boddockes, (in names) buttekes, -bottekes.--notes per MLL
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. buttock.