butprep.adv.conj.n.²

Brit.

/bʌt/, U.S.

/bət/

Forms:

α. Old English beutan (rare), Old English butæ (Northumbrian), Old English butean (Northumbrian), Old English buto, Old English butta (Northumbrian), Old English butu (rare), Old English–early Middle English buta, Old English–early Middle English butan, Old English–early Middle English buten, Old English–early Middle English buton, Old English–early Middle English butun, Old English–1500s bute, late Old English beuton, late Old English (Kentish)–early Middle English butæn, early Middle English beoten, early Middle English beute, early Middle English botan, early Middle English boten, early Middle English butenn ( Ormulum), Middle English bote, Middle English bouten, Middle English bowte, Middle English bowten, Middle English–1500s bout, Middle English–1500s boute, 1500s boot, 1500s (1800s English regional (Cheshire)) bowt, 1800s baat (English regional (northern)), 1800s bart (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1800s bawt (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1800s beawt (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1800s bight (English regional (Cheshire)), 1800s– baht (English regional (northern)), 1800s– be-out (English regional (northern and north midlands)); Scottish pre-1700 boitt, pre-1700 bote, pre-1700 1800s bout.

β. late Old English– but, Middle English potte, Middle English–1500s buth, Middle English–1500s byt, Middle English 1600s bott, Middle English–1600s butte, Middle English 1600s–1700s bot, Middle English–1700s butt, Middle English (1800s English regional (Lancashire)) bod, Middle English (1800s English regional and Irish English) bud, 1600s bitt, 1800s b'd (English regional (northern)), 1800s bo' (English regional (Lancashire)), 1800s boh (English regional (Lancashire)), 1800s bu (English regional (northern)), 1800s– bur (English regional, before a vowel), 1900s bit (English regional (Devon)); Scottish pre-1700 bott, pre-1700 bwt, pre-1700 1700s–1800s bot, pre-1700 1700s– but, pre-1700 1700s– butt.

Origin: A word inherited from Germanic.

Etymology: Cognate with Old Saxon biūtan , būtan (conjunction) except, but, only that (Middle Low German būten (preposition) outside, out of, without, with the exception of, unhindered by, (adverb) outside), Old High German biūzan , būzan (preposition) without, except for, distinct from (Middle High German būzan (preposition and adverb) outside, German regional baussen ) < the Germanic base of by prep. + the Germanic base of outen adv. Compare bin adv. and prep., ben adv., prep., adj., and n.¹In Middle English there is considerable distinction in meaning and function between strong (i.e. originally stressed) forms such as bouten or boute (broadly reflected by the α. forms) and weak (i.e. originally unstressed or weakly stressed) forms such as but (broadly reflected by the β. forms). Use as preposition in the senses ‘outside of’ and ‘without’ and as adverb in the sense ‘outside’ is largely confined to the strong forms in Middle English (and strong forms are rare in other uses); the same tendency is found in later English regional use in sense A. 2a, although not in Scots use in the corresponding senses.

A. prep.

1. Outside of; (in later use often spec.) towards the outer part of (a house) (cf. ben prep.); (also, Scottish) along, across. Now Scottish.In Old English usually with dative when used of position, with accusative when used of motion.

ΚΠ

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark v. 10 Ne se expelleret extra regionem : þætte hine ne fordrife buta ðæt lond.

OE Genesis A (1931) 1354 Ic wille..mid wægþreate æhta and agend eall acwellan þa beutan beoð earce bordum.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) viii. 23 He..lædde hine butan [c1200 Hatton buton] þa wic.

OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Lev. (Claud.) iv. 21 Forbærne þæt cealf butan ðære wicstowe.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1116 Ðis land & þas leodan wurdon..geswencte þurh þa gyld þe se cyng nam, ægðer ge binnan burgan & butan.

a1161 Royal Charter: Henry II to Certain Bishops, Earls, Sheriffs, & Thegns in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 12 Ic hebbe heom geunnon..fleamene frimtha ofer heore agene men, binnan Burgan & butan.

a1300 (?OE) Writ of Edward the Confessor, Westminster (Sawyer 1149) in J. M. Kemble Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici (1846) IV. 215 Inne tid and ut of tid, binnan burh and buten burh, on strate and offe strate.

c1550 Clariodus (1830) ii. l. 1629 The merchellis..Full bissilie went ben and but the hall.

1622 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. 509 The said Margaret..brocht him out of his bed and thaireftir led him but the hous.

1629 in H. Paton Dundonald Parish Rec. (1936) 293 The sayd William came but the house with the knife in his hand quhairon the candle was stieking.

1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess ii. 74 Lindy..looking butt the floor, Sees Bydby standing just within the door.

1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie III. xviii. 153 Weel, weel, Jamie, gang butt the house, and see what the lasses hae got in the pantry.

a1835 J. Grant Tales of Glens (1869) 52 As my father gaed but the trance till's bed, he bade us a' gang hame like gude bairns.

1856 Willis's Current Notes Jan. 2/2 So ‘gang ben the house’, is to enter this inner apartment; and to ‘gang but the house’, is to move towards the door.

1894 A. S. Robertson Provost o' Glendookie 61 ‘Gae wa' butt the hoose, Robert.’... Robert retired to the kitchen.

1933 M. Symon Deveron Days 15 I see them yet ae summer day come hodgin' but the fleer.

1952 J. R. Allan North-East Lowlands Scotl. (1974) 68 They could have drilled a staff of domestics but and ben the house.

?2002 I. W. D. Forde Hale ir Sindries ii. vii. 171 He gaed but the haw an cam bak in a meinit wi mair sairrie wittins fur Ebenezer.

a. Without, apart from, not having, void of. Now rare (Scottish and English regional (northern and north midlands) in later use).Esp. in Old English būtan ende, Middle English buten ende (cf. end n. 18).

ΚΠ

α.

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Hie flugon ofer Temese buton ælcum forda.

OE Blickling Homilies 33 Eal his lif he lifde buton synnum.

OE Wulfstan Luke on Last Days (Hatton 113) 127 Him symle sy lof & wuldor in ealra worulda woruld a butan ende, amen.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 21 To ben a butenn ende þær.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11815 Arður fehten wolden..buten cnihte [c1300 Otho boute eni cniht].

?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne l. 21 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 145 (MED) I sigge for soþ, boute were, Þer nis lond on erþe is pere.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 567 As schip boute mast.

c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 523 For malyse is noȝ[t] to mayntyne boute mercy with-inne.

1555 Lydgate's Auncient Hist. Warres betwixte Grecians & Troyans i. vi. sig. E.iii/2 Bout makyng of delay.

1591 (?a1425) Passion (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 303 This coate bowt seame, to breake yt were shame.

a1627 A. Craig Pilgrime & Heremite (1631) sig. A1^v Tumbling teares bout cease.

1824 W. Carr Horæ Momenta Cravenæ 60 Touch not a cat bout gloves.

1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights II. v. 108 Hathecliff has send me for his lad, un Aw 'munn't goa back 'baht him.

1877 J. Young Pictures in Prose & Verse 174 I'se wad ye had a merry splore 'Bout whisky, porter, yill.

1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xv. 276 Tha might be anybody, standin' there be-out even a shimmy.

β. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 91 Till the toun soyn cumin ar thai Sa preuely, bot noys making.1497 Minute Town-Counc. Edinb. in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 42 421 Thai sall be banist but favors.c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) viii (MED) Doun I lay bot ony tarying.c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. iv. iii. 61 Þe same was done but ony respect to Iuris, or law[is].?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xiv. 195 All because, Achilles keepes away. Alas, as we were nought but him; we little need to stay.a1644 W. Laud Serm. (1847) 127 They..joy in their very tears to see they cannot call but crying.1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) II. 163 I'd tak my Katie but a gown Bare-footed in her little coatie.1794 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 744 My trunk of eild, but buss or beild Sinks in Time's wintry rage.1810 R. Tannahill Poems (1846) 21 Safe but skaith or scar.1820 A. Balfour Contempl. with Other Poems 280 Now Mr Preses, butt a' banter, Consider this, as you're a wanter.1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 21 An' noo the loon bood gan his lane, But ony lamp or guidin' rein.1975 T. Scott Brand the Builder 17 He swaps his buits for his baffies but a soond.

†b. Used elliptically, with the object not expressed: = without prep. 14a. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xx. 471 Forðy mon cwið be sumum goode þæt hit ne sie ful good, forðæm him bið hwæ[s]hwugu wana; & þeah ne bið [eal]les butan.

OE Ælfric Let. to Wulfsige (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 13 Þas bec sceal mæssepreost nede habban, and he ne mæg butan beon.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 307 Stamin habbe hwase wule & hwase wule buten [c1230 Corpus Cambr. beo buten].

a1500 Trental St. Gregory (Adv.) l. 107 in Anglia (1891) 13 305 Þe ton hase ende, þat oþer is bowte.

1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 7 To be bout as Barrow was, i.e. to be without.

†3. Leaving out, barring, with the exception of, except, save.Only in Old English (and in late copies of material of Old English composition). In later use not distinguishable from use as a conjunction (see branch C.).See note at C. I. on some further Old English uses here assigned to branch C. which could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition.

a. In general use. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

OE List of Eng. Kings (Stowe 944) in W. de G. Birch Liber Vitae New Minster & Hyde Abbey (1892) 95 Þa feng Eadmund to his broðor & heold seofoðe healf gear butan twam nihtum.

OE Menologium 87 Swylce ymb fyrst wucan butan anre niht þætte yldum bringð sigelbeorhte dagas sumor to tune.

lOE Canterbury Psalter xvii. 32 Quoniam quis deus preter dominum aut quis deus preter deum nostrum : forðæn hwylc god is butæn drihten oþþe hwylc god butæn urum gode.

b. Following a universal statement with all, any. Cf. sense C. 2. Obsolete.In quot. OE² with buton ðam anum introducing a noun clause; cf. sense C. 7a.With use in quot. c1175 cf. sense C. 2c.

ΚΠ

eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iii. xvii. 234 Heo ealle..forðferdon & bebyrgede wæron, buton anum cneohte.

OE Beowulf (2008) 705 Sceotend swæfon, þa þæt hornreced healdan scoldon, ealle buton anum.

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) 262 Efne nu ealle ða ðing..sindon on ðinre handa, buton ðam anum þæt ðu on him sylfum ðine hand ne astrecce.

lOE St. Nicholas (Corpus Cambr.) (1997) 85 He nolde þæt hit ænig man witen sceolde buton Criste ane.

c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 18 Heo þa swa dydon alle buton him ane.

B. adv.

1. Outside, without.For uses of the preposition in sense ‘without, apart from, not having, void of’ with the object not expressed, some of which could alternatively be interpreted as uses as adverb, see sense A. 2b.

†a. In general sense. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > [adverb] > outside

buteOE

outeneOE

withoutc1000

outwarda1382

withoutforthc1384

outc1390

out of door1579

outside1653

withoutsidec1660

out-over1818

outboard1935

eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 867 Þær was ungemetlic węl geslægen Norþanhymbra, sume binnan, sume butan.

OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John xviii. 16 Petrus..stabat ad ostium foris : petrus..gestod uel uæs stondende to duru uel æt ðær dure ute uel bute uel fore.

OE Blickling Homilies 199 Þa gesamnode he mycel weorod his manna & hwearf æfter wegum ge buton geond þone wudu.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1872 Scholde a quene beon king in þisse londe, & heora sunen beon buten [c1300 Otho boute].

c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 39 Þe signe hys þat hys boute ydo, Þat þynge hys grace bynne.

b. Scottish. Originally: (of both position and movement) outside the house. Now usually: in or into the outer or more public apartment of the house, in the anteroom or kitchen (opposed to, and frequently coupled with, ben n.²).Now less common than ben.

ΚΠ

c1480 (a1400) St. Bartholomew l. 22 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 180 For-thi the tempil of syk mene Wes fillit ful, but & ben.

a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Two Mice l. 360 in Poems (1981) 18 Hir den..Full beinly stuffit, baith but and ben, Off peis and nuttis, beinis, ry, and quheit.

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. xii. 53 Flambe..Spredyng fra thak to thak, baith but and ben.

1568 Wife of Aucht. iv, in Bannatyne Poems (1770) 216 Aye as ye gang but and ben.

1646 A. Henderson Let. Charles I 3 June in Papers betwixt His Majestie & A. Henderson in Εικον Βασιλικη 192 It cannot be brought But, that is not the Ben.

1681 S. Colvil Mock Poem ii. 42 Thy reason hear both but and ben halts.

1787 R. Burns Let. 1 June (2001) I. 120 I can hardly stoiter but and ben.

1827 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxxiii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 899 Bring but a bottle o' Primrose wine.

1856 Willis's Current Notes Jan. 2/2 ‘Ben i' the room’, and ‘but i' the kitchen’, are phrases quite common among farm servants.

1903 G. Cunningham Verse & Prose 102 At the deid oor o' nicht cam' a chap at the door. My mither was sleeping, but rase and gaed but.

1995 F. Garry Coll. Poems 19 This hoose is yours, the gear, the folk Ootside an in, baith but an ben.

2. Limiting a word or phrase.

a. Nothing but, no more than, only, merely. Compare sense C. 1. Now somewhat literary.This use differs from that of sense C. 1 only in the absence of any negative word; N.E.D. (1888) explains it as having arisen ‘by the omission of the negative accompanying the preceding verb’, but this cannot be assumed, since it is now known to have existed in Old English concurrently with the other use.to name but a few: see name v. 7c. See also Phrases 6.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adverb] > simply, only, or merely

butOE

onlya1325

alone?c1335

purelya1375

alonelya1400

nobbuta1400

simplya1400

plain1535

barely1577

merelyc1580

purea1616

singly1655

just1668

sommer1835

maara1931

OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 988 He lytle hwile æfter þæm lyfode butan i gear & iii monþas.

lOE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Vesp. D.xiv) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 17 Seo yfele gitsung..is helle gelic, for þan þe heo habbeð bute unafylledlice grædignysse, þæt heo fulle ne byð næfre.

a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 31 Ichulle þet ȝe speken selde, & þeonne buten lutel.

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 756 Bute lese wordes þu me lenst.

c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) l. 37 With him riden bote tvo.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 27 (MED) Þat welle is but twenty foot long and twenty foot brood.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xvii. l. 359 He comeþ but seilde.

?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 465 Take rys, and gif hom but a boyle.

1512 Act 4 Henry VIII vi, in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 51 The forsaid penaltie expressed in the said Statute is but xx s.

1606 G. Chapman Gentleman Vsher iv. sig. G^v Musicke delights but one sense.

1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. vi. 239 It was impious..but euen to touch the bodies of Saints dead.

a1625 J. Fletcher Rule a Wife (1640) iii. 34 I tell but truth.

1647 A. Cowley Spring in Mistress ii Could they remember but last year.

1657 in T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (new ed.) Notes sig. Uuuu2^v The Greek hath it only thus, are called Victory, as it were in the abstract, as we call Our Lord Chief Justice, who is but a Justiciar.

1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. i. iii. 13 Do but consider this.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. iii. 17 Premature consolation is but the remembrancer of sorrow.

1794 R. Burns (title) My love she's but a lassie yet.

a1834 S. T. Coleridge Lit. Remains (1836) II. 143 This happy valiancy of style is but the representative and result of all the material excellencies so expressed.

1876 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People (1882) i. §3. 30 In arms the kingdom had but a single rival.

1924 Bull. Metrop. Mus. Art 19 31/1 Two men working together could at best produce but a few yards of paper each day.

1976 W. W. Warner Beautiful Swimmers iv. 77 Catching crabs was but an occasional or leisure-time activity,..and only the unregenerate would do it on Sundays.

2008 J. C. Quick et al. Managing Executive Health i. 15 It was beneficial, provided that the amasser of the wealth realized that he or she is but a steward.

†b. Neither more nor less than, absolutely, actually, just, even. Sometimes merely as a filler. Obsolete (regional in later use).See also but now.

ΚΠ

a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 164 (MED) He schal siȝe sore, & þanne he is but deed.

?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 56 (MED) Þou art but shent.

a1500 (?c1400) Sir Triamour (Cambr.) (1937) l. 596 For well y wot þat y am but dedd.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) xxviii. sig. Eiii^v Yf thei se him they are but lost for euer.

1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. G^v He tolde mee but euerie thing that she and he agreed of.

1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. iv, in Occas. Refl. sig. D4^v A but plausible Argument, dress'd up in fine Similitudes.

1827 W. Scott Highland Widow in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. xii. 279 You do but resemble the summer-stricken stream.

1844 F. E. Paget Tales Village Children (1858) 2nd Ser. 16 My poor legs how they do but tremble.

3. colloquial (chiefly Australian, Irish English, and Scottish). Placed at the end of a sentence or clause: though; however.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > qualification > [adverb] > however, nevertheless, notwithstanding

though-whetherc897

nathelesseOE

though971

whetherOE

yetOE

neverlOE

what for-thyc1175

nethelessa1200

never the latterc1225

algatec1230

in spite of (despite, maugre, etc.) one's teethc1230

nought for thatc1275

(all) for noughtc1325

(in) spite of one's nosec1325

alway1340

thoughless1340

ne'er the later (also latter)a1382

ne'er the lessa1382

neverlatera1382

neverthelessa1382

ne for-thia1400

neverlessa1400

not-againstandinga1400

nauthelessc1400

nouthelessc1400

algatesc1405

noughtwithstanding1422

netherless?a1425

notwithstanding1425

nethertheless1440

not gainstandingc1440

not the lessa1450

alwaysa1470

howbeit1470

never þe quedera1475

nought the lessc1480

what reck?a1513

nonetheless1533

howsomever1562

after all1590

in spite of spite1592

meantime1594

notwithstand1596

withal1596

in the meanwhile1597

meanwhile1597

howsoever1601

in (one's) spite?1615

however1623

in the meantime1631

non obstante1641

at the same time1679

with a non-obstante to1679

stilla1699

the same1782

all the same1803

quand même1825

still and all1829

anyhow1867

anyway1876

still and ona1894

all the samey1897

just the same1901

but1939

1939 ‘F. O'Brien’ At Swim-Two-Birds i. 37 There is a special crown for those that give themselves up to that work. It is a hard life, but, said Brinsley.

1957 ‘N. Culotta’ They're Weird Mob (1958) 71 ‘Comes up blue in the face, spittin' sand an' seaweed.’ ‘I caught a boomer just after, but.’

1969 M. Richler Street ii. 44 ‘You always wanted it [sc. the room] for yourself, didn't you?’‘She died in there, but.’

1979 R. Jenkins Fergus Lamont 8 ‘Oh, Fergie, you're a real braw wee kiltie!’ ‘Whaur's your sporran but?’

1987 T. Paulin Hillsborough Script 3 Oh he's up t'something OK. Can't figure it out but.

2000 J. Robertson Fanatic 169 You can get maist things on video these days. Ye have tae look aroon but.

2007 D. McDonald Luck in Greater West ii. 29 What class ya got now?.. I got commerce. I'm thinkin' of waggin' but.

C. conj.

I. In a simple sentence, introducing a word, phrase, or (rarely) a clause which is excepted from the general statement. With the exception of, apart from, except, save.Compare Old English use as a preposition (see sense A. 3b). Old English attestations in senses C. 1a(c), C. 2b, C. 3b, C. 4a, C. 4b, C. 5a with the dative or accusative are ambiguous, as the case may be determined either by the main clause or governed by būtan as preposition (see further B. Mitchell Old Eng. Syntax (1985) §3631). Such examples have been assigned here in order to facilitate comparison with later usage.

1. After a negative, expressed or implied.nothing but: see nothing pron., n., adv., and int. Phrases 1a. [Regularly translating classical Latin nisi.]

a. With a noun or pronoun as complement.

(a) With a subjective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. None but they have a right to rule = ‘None else have a right to rule; only they do’).In quot. OE¹ with a noun phrase showing nominative case.

ΚΠ

OE Phoenix 358 Þæt ne wat ænig monna cynnes, butan meotod ana, hu þa wisan sind wundorlice, fæger fyrngesceap, ymb þæs fugles gebyrd.

OE Ælfric Interrogationes Sigewulfi in Genesin (Corpus Cambr. 162) xxxiii, in Anglia (1884) 7 22 Nan nyten næfde nan gescead ne sawle butan he ana.

lOE St. Margaret (Corpus Cambr.) (1994) 164 Næfre ne mihte me nan man ofercuman buton þu ane.

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 305 Ne meten [probably read moten] nane buten heo hoppin ne singen.

?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) ii. l. 4559 No body bot he alone vnto þe cristen cam.

c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 45 Oþir God is noon but I.

a1500 Roberd of Cisyle (Cambr. Ff.2.38) (1879) l. 432 There was lefte noone but he allone.

1560 A. L. tr. J. Calvin Foure Serm. Song Ezechias (1574) 48 There is none but he alone to save us.

1615 J. Loiseau de Tourval tr. H. de Feynes Exact Surv. E. Indies 26 None but he and his men can tell, what is become of them.

1673 T. Shadwell Epsom-Wells iv. ii, in Wks. (1720) 248 No people in the world can make Lattin ware, or work our tin well but they.

a1722 J. Lauder Hist. Notices Sc. Affairs (1848) II. 812 None else sell it but he.

1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 235 'Tis an unalterable fixt decree That none could frame or ratify but she.

a1842 T. Arnold Fragm. on Church (1845) 223 None but they..have a right to rule in the Church.

2013 Arab Stud. Jrnl. 21 96 My heartfelt thanks go to the following readers for their helpful engagement with this essay, however, none but I bear responsibility for its frailties.

†(b) With a subjective pronoun as notional object of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. My father hath no child, but I = ‘My father has no other child; he has only me’). Obsolete.

ΚΠ

OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxxix. 9 Næfþ he nan þing þæt ne sy on minum anwealde buton þu [OE Laud þu, OE Corpus Cambr. þe; L. praeter te] þe his wif eart.

a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 902 This child hath no modre but I.

1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 141 They haue no other king but he.

a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. ii. 16 My Father hath no childe, but I.

a1866 in C. Engel Introd. Study National Music (1866) ix. 358 And I had nae mair bot hee, O.

(c) With a noun or pronoun not showing case, or with case determined by the main clause (as in quots. a1400, a1425, 1599) (e.g. You can blame nobody but yourself = ‘You can blame nobody else; you can blame only yourself’, She fears no one but him = ‘She fears only him’).Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I.

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 194 Þa cwædon þa halgan, ne cunne we nanne God buton fæder and sunu and þone halgan gast.

?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1135 Durste nan man sei to him naht bute god.

a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 110 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 Non ne cnoweð hine alse wel buten one drihte.

a1325 (c1300) Chron. P. de Langtoft (Cambr.) (1839) 307 Sum es left na thing Boute his rivyn riveling.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 5 Þou ne sselt habbe god bote me.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. l. 72 (MED) The which noman in his persone Mai knowe, bot the, god, al one.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 961 I wat bot þe haf i na frend.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 94 Love we God..and drede we noo þing but hym.

1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 637/2 You can blame no body but yourselfe.

1599 George a Greene sig. B2^v He is the man, and she will none but him.

1618 J. Taylor Pennyles Pilgr. in Wks. (1883) 23 Nothing, (but my weary self) was bad.

1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. ii. §158. 71 None speakes the same but their principall.

a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo i, in Wks. (1721) III. 8 For I Nothing but Ants about this Hill descry.

1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. 299 None but rakes hold these over-awing doctrines.

1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 21 He wants nothing but a little common sense.

1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 22 Invoke no miracle, no Muse but thee.

1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 39 Nought is but that which feels itself to be.

c1882 W. S. Gilbert Iolanthe 11 None but the brave deserve the fair!

1927 Blackwood's Mag. Sept. 374/2 There were none but sailors, brass-bounders, stewards.

1934 Cairns Post (Austral.) 29 May 4/5 This gangster's scheme will benefit nobody but the silver producers.

2003 Daily Mirror 1 Apr. 47/1 None but an eccentric few give a hoot.

(d) With an objective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. No one knows it but me = ‘I know it but no one else does’).

ΚΠ

1754 Trial Elizabeth Canning 61/1 There were nobody at all in the house but them and ourselves.

1799 G. E. Sargent Eng. Peasant Girl v. 60 There is the baby, cry, cry, crying, and nobody to take a hand at nursing it but me.

1869 B. Harte in Overland Monthly June 572/1 Thar aint nobody but him within ten mile of the shanty.

1930 Oxf. Ann. Girls 39/1 It's him—and there's no one here to meet him but me!

2003 P. Lovesey House Sitter (2004) xii. 166 Bramshill insists no one else but me will do, and won't give any details except an address in Sussex.

b. With a prepositional, adverbial, infinitive, or other phrase (rarely expanded to a clause) as complement (e.g. They never do anything but change = ‘They only change; they never do anything else’). Now chiefly with following verb.

ΚΠ

OE Cynewulf Elene 661 Þis næfre þurh æniges mannes muð gehyrdon hæleðu[m] cyðan, butan her nu ða.

OE Blickling Homilies 33 Nolde he him na andswerian buton mid monþwærnesse.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3567 Iesuss nohht ne wollde. Ben borenn nowwhar..Butt inn hiss aȝhenn birde.

c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 118 He ne mei na þing don us bute bi godes leaue.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 27 (MED) Þat welle is..nouȝt depe bot to þe kne.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 99 (MED) Þat was profitable to noþing but [L. nisi] for to putte of þe sclaundre of the Iewes.

a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xxi. 121 He eeriþ not but by hap.

1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) i. 66 We wolde noght aggre bot to have power to arreste chanons men servants.

1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions i. v. 53 Quaill, and mallard, are not but for the richer sorte.

1609 J. Skene tr. Burrow Lawes in Regiam Majestatem 129 No man sould presume to buy fish..in any other place, bot in the Kings market.

1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 401 He never us'd any Linnen or other Clothes but once.

1743 J. Morris Serm. ii. 49 Faith and hope have no aptitude to make us happy, but as they incline us to love.

1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 246 In the streets, women seldom speak but to women.

1843 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters I. 2 No man can be really appreciated but by his equal or superior.

1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 77 You have no choice but marry Doris now.

1937 W. P. Chrysler & B. Sparkes Life Amer. Workman i. 26 I had no choice but to do any job that he neglected.

1996 R. Waterfield tr. Aristotle Physics viii. iii. 192 The objects which are changing never do anything but change.

c. With a noun or adjectival phrase as the complement of be (e.g. The cat is not but a kitten = ‘the cat is a kitten and not anything more’). Cf. sense B. 2a. Now nonstandard.In this use, not but has the sense of ‘only’, and to be not but has the sense of ‘to be nothing other than’. Compare nobbut adv.In quots. eOE¹, eOE² with nouns apparently in the nominative; however, both quots. could alternatively be taken as showing the preposition governing the accusative.

ΚΠ

eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 8 Sume men sæden þæt þær nære buton twegen dælas: Asia & þæt oþer Europe.

eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xi. 188 Syndrige sceafas geseoð on þrim ceacfullum wæteres þæt þær ne sie butan an ful.

c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) l. 101 Þer nis buten a Godd.

a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Ihesu..aȝein hwam þe sunne nis boten a schadwe.

c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 53 He nas boute seue winter olde.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 258 Þe ssredinge þet ne ssolde by bote a tokne..of þe ssame of his uader.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 205 Ther þe cat nys bote a kyton.

1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) xxii. 42 He is not but a bourdour, and a deceyuer of ladyes.

1532 J. Larke tr. Bk. Wysdome f. xlvi^v And saythe that theyr vaynglorye is not but a fantastyke vysyon, whiche sheweth outwardely that thyng whiche is not within.

c1650 S. More Wise Gospel-preacher 220 'Twere well if this Zeal of theirs for Preaching be not but a blind Zeal, and a bad Zeal, a Zeal rather to preach out themselves.

1696 S. Carter Lex Custumaria ii. 12 Originally he was not but a bare Tenant at Will to the Lord.

a1839 J. Galt Demon of Destiny (1840) iii. 28 As if man were not but an atom thing In the dimensionless, the Universe.

1893 Cent. Mag. Sept. 772/2 She ain't but nine this summer.

1922 V. Randolph Pissing in Snow (1986) 98 One time there was a miller married a girl that wasn't but twelve years old.

1973 Black World Jan. 57/1 I can back the truck into it. The wall ain't but so strong.

1988 A. Tyler Breathing Lessons (1989) i. i. 17 Leroy was not but a baby then.

2. In a universal statement, usually with all, every, or any.anything but: see anything pron., n., and adv. Phrases 7.

a. With a subjective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Everyone was asleep but he = ‘Everyone else was asleep, but he was not’).In quots. OE, lOE with noun phrase showing nominative case.

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) vii. 235 Gewite þis gedwyld fram geleaffullum heortum, þæt æni gewyrd sy, buton se ælmihtiga scyppend.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1116 On þisum ylcan geare bærnde eall þet mynstre of Burh & eallæ þa husas butan se Captelhus & se Slæpperne.

c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 2088 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 166 Heo buth alle gultlese bote ich one.

a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 232 Euery wyght was voyded but þey two.

a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. iii. 38 All shall be slayn, Bot oonely we.

1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. ii. 14 Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she, Shee's the hopefull Lady of my earth.

1645 R. Symonds Diary (1859) 275 Do not persuade a loveful maid there's any heaven but he.

1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 330. ⁋4 All the Boys in the School, but I, have the Classick Authors in usum Delphini, gilt and letter'd on the Back.

1742 W. Shenstone School-mistress xix All, all but He, the Author of it's Shame,..regret it's ruthful Stour.

1829 F. D. Hemans Casabianca in Forest Sanctuary (ed. 2) 243 The boy stood on the burning deck, Whence all but he had fled.

1872 J. H. Newman Discuss. & Arguments 6 I am one among a thousand; all of them wrong but I.

1932 S. O'Faoláin Midsummer Night Madness 238 Everyone was asleep in bed but he.

2009 BOMB Spring 35/2 There was always an element of parody in the work.., though I had to make it so subtle that hardly anyone but I would notice it.

b. With a noun or pronoun not showing case, or with case determined by the main clause, or introducing a phrase (e.g. It fascinates everyone but me = ‘It fascinates everyone else, but it doesn't fascinate me’).Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the dative: see note at C. I.

ΚΠ

OE Panther 16 Se is æthwam freond, duguða estig, butan dracan anum.

lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1086 Litel rihtwisnesse wæs on þisum lande mid ænige menn buton mid munecan ane.

a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Hwi loue ich ein [read eni] þing boten þe one.

c1300 All Souls (Harl.) l. 223 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 471 For vpe hem ful þe roch adoun & hem ouercaste & sloȝ hem alle bote o man.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 763 Sua do we [ete] Of al þe tres bot of an.

c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) xciv (MED) In a chiere of estate..all plumyt bot his face, There sawe I sitt the blynd god Cupide.

1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 57 If wee did imitate ought but the imperfections of Beastes.

1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. B4 Wisdome is foolishnes, but in her tongue.

1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. li. 107 That the world should honor any other as the Sauiour but him.

a1618 W. Raleigh Verses (Mildmay MS) Love all eaten out but in outward showe.

1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 3 And thought that all but Savages were Slaves.

1764 J. Otis Rights Brit. Colonies 80 Custom-house officers universally, and Naval-officers, in all but two or three of the colonies, are..appointed directly from home, or by instruction to the Governor.

1775 H. Walpole Let. 25 Apr. (1937) I. 366 It would kill anybody but me, who am of adamant, to walk out into the dew in winter in my slippers.

1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 84 I can bear any thing but contempt.

1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. xxxix. 81 It [an oath] was taken..by all but the Eleans.

1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain i. ii. 7 Every one but Jennings did laugh out; but he, au contraire, began to look very black.

1916 W. S. Churchill Let. 24 Jan. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) vii. 161 I..discussed the war with the French women who carry on the business in the absence of all but old men & children.

1937 C. Brooks Jrnl. 16 Mar. (1998) 192 My being proposed by anybody but them for membership.

1972 D. Randall in D. Hall Contemp. Amer. Poetry 45 All but his grinning adversary, who, crouched, Danced tenderly around him with a jag-toothed bottle.

2001 Vanity Fair July 136/3 It was a brutal article—it had everyone but the pets in the families at war with each other.

c. With an objective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Everyone but me obeys the rules = ‘Everyone else obeys the rules, but I do not’, Everyone knows it but me = ‘Everyone else knows it, but I do not’).

ΚΠ

1822 M. Mainwaring Moscow III. iii. 58 That young person you lent your car to..who every one but me believed to be a man.

1861 M. V. Victor Maum Guinea x. 174 Everybody but me was tickled 'bout it.

1896 G. Ade Artie xi. 100 All but us four got planted in front seats and looked on.

1952 J. Thurber Let. 22 Dec. (2002) 580 Everybody but me among us old codgers proudly insists that he and his wife were married just like the kids of today, without a blinking cent or the hope of work.

2009 Jrnl. Business Ethics 84 568/1 The optimal situation is when everyone but me obeys the rules.

3. After an interrogative (chiefly who or what).

a. With a subjective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Who could be sure but she? = ‘Who could be sure? Only she could be’).In quots. OE, lOE with a noun phrase showing nominative case.

ΚΠ

OE Cynewulf Crist II 695 Hwæt sindan þa gimmas swa scyne buton god sylfa?

lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xix. 283 Hwæt is heora nu to lafe, butan se lytla hlisa and se nama mid feaum stafum awriten?

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2823 Quo made bisne, and quo lockende? Quo but ic, ðat haue al wrogt.

a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 279 (MED) Who shulde be dampned, but þou?

1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau v. i. sig. F.ij^v Then faith cock on houpe, al is ours, then who but he?

1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 34 Who but they cowld abyde such hunger and colde,..besydes the lynger of paye, sycknes and mortalitie?

1636 Ramus's Via Regia ad Geometriam Pref. sig. A5^v Who may understand, but he that is skilfull in these Arts?

1701 T. Brett Acct. Church-govt. vi. 96 What is the Bishop, but he that is above all Principality and Power?

1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 113 Away went Gilpin—who but he?

1865 F. Leslie's Ten Cent Monthly Jan. 416/1 Who but she became so skilled in the mysteries of pickles and pastry, preserves, stuffing and stews?

1940 Prairie Schooner 14 252 And who but I should walk with her In the green solitude?

2001 Shakespeare Q. 52 315 Who but she could be sure?

b. With a noun or pronoun not showing case, or with case determined by the main clause, or introducing a phrase (e.g. Who but himself can make the changes? = ‘Who can make the changes? Only he can make them’).Quot. OE² could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I.

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxii. 458 Hwæt is lange lybban buton lange swincan?

OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xl. 527 Hwæt is þis deaðlice lif buton weig?

c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 69 Hwæt is ðeo deorce niht buton helle dimnes?

?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne l. 8 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 145 What is þer in paradis Bot grasse and flure and grene ris?

c1390 Cato's Distichs (Vernon) l. 508, in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) iv. 596 What prou may þi catel do But hele wol with þe dele?

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1119 (MED) Quat may þe cause be called bot for hir clene hwes?

c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 2859 (MED) What shull yeur men do But take ensaumpill of ȝewe?

a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 123 What dude he but yede, and purveyde him of iij. cautils.

1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. D.ij^v What causeth this, but greedy golde to get?

1601 J. Weever Mirror Martyrs in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 42 Who but Brutus then was vicious?

1651 J. Howell S.P.Q.V. 124 What are their soldiers but Players, Minstrells and Tumblers, a multitude of unghelt Eunuchs?

a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) VI. 35 What is all Virtue but a Moderation of Excesses?

1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 339 Who but the most desperate adventurers..could at all have thought of [it] .

1838 W. Ware Probus I. v. 162 What word but priest stands with all as an abbreviation and epitome of whatever pollutes and defiles the name of man?

1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xxiv. 336 What must she do but immediately turn to the Lieutenant?

1931 Freeman's Jrnl. (Austral.) 16 Apr. 3/3 Who but himself can make the changes necessary?

2008 E. Abeel Conscience Point x. 119 Who but her did Laila have?

c. With an objective pronoun treated as prepositional object of but or (in recent use) as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Who but me could recognize her? = ‘Who could recognize her? Only I could do so’.)

ΚΠ

1594 tr. A. de Guevara Mysteries Mount Calvary lv. 374 Who but thee..was the dead man buried by the hands of the dead.

a1687 C. Cotton Poems (1689) 111 And who but thee in singing does excell?

1757 J. Hanway To Marine Soc. 11 Who but him[1758 he] can alter the courses of the winds?

1761 A. Lally Let. 13 Feb. in Ann. Reg. 1766 (1767) 84/1 Who but me has, or can have, a right to represent to the council of Madras the demands, complaints, or grievances of the French colony?

1863 Yale Lit. Mag. Oct. 7 Who but us can guarantee the future?

1874 Lancet 10 Oct. 526/1 Who but them possess the knowledge?

1919 Overland Monthly Nov. 363/2 And now who but me'll make 'em stay on here to work the mine for Missus Charlie.

2005 Salmagundi No. 146/147 38 Who but me could recognize her?

a. After a negative or interrogative clause containing a comparative (esp. more): than. Now rare.than is now usual in such sentences, or (until recently) a construction with but and without a comparative, as in sense B. 2a.Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I.

ΚΠ

OE Rec. Gifts of Bp. Leofric to Exeter Cathedral (Bodl.) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 228 He ne funde on þam mynstre þa he tofeng boca na ma buton ane capitularie & i forealdodne nihtsang.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 Þe eorðliche lauerd ne mei don na mare bote pinen þe..licome to deaðe.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14265 Þa nas þer na-mare i þan fehte to laue..buten Arður þe king.

?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 111 Forto wep ȝe [emended in ed. to ȝo] nad no mo Bot .IIII. bitter teris of blode.

a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 4606 (MED) I took no mor on honde..But to reherce the destruccioun.

a1475 J. Shirley Death James (BL Add. 5467) in Miscellanea Scotica (1818) II. 12 There be no mo kynges yn this reume bot ye and I.

?1506 Lytell Geste Robyn Hode (de Worde) sig. A.iv I haue no more but .x.l. sayd the knyght.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxi. 134 They..toke their horses, wherof they had no mo but sixe.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) sig. Nnij^v What greatter correction shuld I haue of thy wyckednes..but to be certayne that all the lovyng ladis of Rome ar sory of thy life.

1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie xlv. 266 To bestow it vpon men which are no better but dung.

1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. 97 a They were no better but a ragged sort of shepheards.

1644 W. Chillingworth Serm. 32 Our whole lives (if sincerely examined) would appeare, I feare, little lesse but a perpetuall lye.

1686 Papist not Misrepr. 21 The difference..is no more but this.

1713 Guardian 25 Aug. 2/2 There needed no more but to advance one Step.

a1784 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherd in Sc. Wks. (1938) 187 'Twas love, not marriage, ran into her mind; She sought, she meant no more but to be kind.

1823 Assistant of Educ. Dec. 336 Being in society, we hear something that hurts or offends us.., we add to it, perhaps, no more but an aggravative tone.

1905 A. R. Wallace My Life I. iv. 46 I remember little more but heat and horrid dreams.

1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton ix. 193 The winder then a-rattlin off in that dern carriage till it weren't no more but a plume o' road-dust catched I a bit of a wet eye.

b. After a negative or interrogative clause containing other, †otherwise (obsolete), or else.Quots. OE¹, lOE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative or dative: see note at C. I.

ΚΠ

OE Blickling Homilies 39 Hwylc beren mænde he þonne elles buton heofona rice?

OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) xiii. 11 Hwa arist elles of Syon to þæm þæt he sylle Israelum hælo, butan þu, Drihten?

lOE tr. R. d'Escures Sermo in Festis Sancte Marie Virginis in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 136 Oðre underfoð sumne cume leoflice.., ac þeos nænne oðerne cume bute þone Hælend sylf, na synderlice on oðren herbyrge, bute on hire agene innoðe.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 12392 Þatt iesu crist ne wære. Nohht elless butt all swillc an mann.

?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 311 Nochwder [read nochwider] elles ne ga ha bute þider asme sent hire.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1682 Wile ich speke with non oþer reue, But with þe, þat iustise are.

c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 270 (MED) Þou proude mon, þou art nouȝt elles But of Muk bretful a sekke.

1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §42. m. 26 Ther to have noon other sustenaunce but brede and water.

1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. OOOiii^v This syttyng signifyeth none other, but the peace of the soule.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xix. 164 What els is man but his minde?

1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. to Rdr. sig. A3^v For none other fault, but for seeking to reduce their Countrey-men to good order.

1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 41 Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain.

1713 Guardian 25 Aug. 2/2 Had no other Fault, but that of being too Short.

1734 J. Hutchinson Covenant in Cherubim 104 How it could have been..otherwise distinguished, but by Names, and Ideas.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 88 [They] believe the bellowings of Hecla are nothing else but the cries of the damned.

1826 A. G. Bain Jrnls. (1949) 31 The natives..called me by no other name but Moorimo (god).

1883 J. Landon School Managem. iii. v. 356 Some masterful spirit who would brave anything else but a sound flogging.

1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle 108 Don't hit 'im up for anything else but breakfast.

1958 J. W. Day Lady Houston ix. 127 No other race of people but the Sarkese speak it [sc. ‘Norman-French’] today.

2011 Antioch Rev. 69 902 Who else but someone who is young and needs a job would put up with being so stranded?

†c. After unlike. Obsolete. rare.

ΚΠ

1652 E. Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum Prol. 7 Not unlike, but the Wall-nut-Tree which..grew in Glastenbury-Church-yard.

a1654 J. Richardson Choice Observ. & Explan. Old Test. (1655) 82 And not unlike but Davids enquiring of the Lord.

5. With part of the predicate of the main clause unexpressed.

a. With the object or complement of the main verb unexpressed: any but, anything else than, other than, otherwise than. Frequently after ever, never. Now regional or nonstandard.Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I.

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OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiv. 17 Þa andswarodun hig, we nabbað her butun fif hlafas & twegen fixas.

c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. C) l. 14 Nafst þu bute [wei]lawei þet þu weole heuedest.

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 1290 Ne schaltu bute schame iwinne.

c1330 (?c1300) Reinbrun (Auch.) in J. Zupitza Guy of Warwick (1891) 637 He nis boute a losenger.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3302 (MED) Hit nys potte a litel þinge.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xviii. 20 Fewe had slepte but lytle, and yet they had sore traualed the daye before.

1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. G2^v Neuer to be but Edwards faithful friend.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 119 I should sinne To thinke but Noblie of my Grand-mother.

1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 21 It cannot be but a dishonour and derogation to the author.

1722 W. Cheselden Anat. Humane Body (ed. 2) i. i. 2 I have never seen but one instance of a Bone in an adult Body unossified.

1788 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum II. 183 How can I be but eerie!

1832 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 32 166 He never took but one voyage.

1864 R. Paul Let. 20 Jan. in B. Bell Mem. R. Paul (1872) xviii. 273 You say you are tied hand and foot... You will never be but that in London.

1919 Sunset Dec. 30/3 Ain't but two years 'tween me an' the great divide.

1980 A. Beattie Falling in Place (1981) x. 119 Don't tip him but five percent.

2002 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 27 Apr. 23 I never saw but one.

b. After a negative or interrogative clause with a modal verb (esp. cannot, could not, dare not, etc., and the interrogative who could, etc.), with the main verb unexpressed. Now somewhat rare.one cannot choose but: see choose v. 5b. [Compare classical Latin non possum non.]

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OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxi. 450 Hwæt wylle we..buton herian urne drihten & eadmodlice biddan þæt he us..to þam ecum gefean gelæde?

a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3380 He can not but sigh, sobbe, and wepe.

?1510 T. More in tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus Ep. Ded. sig. A^v Your self is such one as for your vertue & feruent zele to god can not but ioyously receiue any thing that meanely sownith.

1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Celebr. Holye Communion f. lxxxviii The frailtie of man without thee, cannot but fall.

1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 1^v I cannot but commend his wisedom.

1619 W. Sclater Expos. 1 Thess. (1638) 166 What Atheist dares but yield attention?

1628 Bp. Davenant Serm. 35 If hee bid it stand still..it dares not but stand.

1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 2 It could not but much redound to the lustre of your milde and equall Government.

1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy Ded. sig. A1^v It can't but be obvious to them.

1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. ii. 18 Such extensive power, and..resources could not but appear extremely formidable.

1812 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 180 I cannot but be gratified by the assurance.

1832 H. Martineau For Each & All ii. 23 He could not but try.

1866 J. R. Lowell Poet. Wks. 84 We can't but regret (seek excuse where we may) That so much of a man has been peddled away.

1934 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Grey Granite ii. 102 She'd far set a-lowe and burned up Colquohoun in her time, you wouldn't but wonder.

1936 C. S. Lewis Allegory of Love iii. 124 I cannot but feel that this ogre is a very odd description of womanly modesty.

2011 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 13 Dec. (Features section) 12 Mr Cameron's empty chair policy in the EU cannot but strengthen the Nationalist case for Scotland having its own representation at the top table of Europe.

6. After last and next, chiefly in last but one, next but one; occasionally also after first (now rare).next door but one: see next door n. 2, next door adv. 3.

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?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 19 Þe leste uers buten an of benedicite omnia.

c1540 T. Botelar Reg. in Trans. Shropshire Archæol. & Nat. Hist. Soc. (1883) 6 130 The last day but one of Feb. being Gudtyde Sonday.

1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 330 Boniface the Archebishop (next but one in succession after Richard, of whome we spake before).

1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 861 The first time that euer the two kings were of one house but then.

1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 46 Q. What meane you by that, To increase flat? A. To haue the last syllable, but one, pressed down flatte in pronouncing.

1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words at Rogation The next week but one before Whitsunday.

1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 10 Nov. (2013) 62 I forgot to leave a gap in the last line but one for the seal.

1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two.

1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 320 The Sunday next but one before Easter.

1837 Eng.-Lat. Lexicon at First The first but one, a primo proximus.

1859 Musical Times & Singing Class Circular 9 5/1 The re for the Alto voice in the last bar but three should be sol.

1917 F. Klickmann Between Larch-woods & Weir ii. 21 The vermilion satin cushion.., that had lain in a trunk in the attic since the last Sale of Work but two.

1947 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 7 76 Some twenty years after inauguration of the first but one corporation in the country.

1948 L. A. G. Strong Trevannion xiii. 211 The next evening but one after the fight.

2004 Independent 29 July 37/4 One [sc. a drug] that clearly impressed my son's last but one NHS consultant.

II. In a complex sentence, introducing a subordinate clause.

a. Except (that), save (that).In later use chiefly in clauses of the type nothing would satisfy him but (that)——.

(a) In but that. Now rare.

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OE Genesis A (1931) 1403 Se egorhere eorðan tuddor eall acwealde, buton þæt earce bord heold heofona frea.

OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 13 Þæt sealt..ne mæg syððan to nahte buton þæt hit sy utaworpen.

c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 202 Ðenne nis us nan þing bætere ne sælre buton þæt we lufien ure Drihten mid alle mode.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 12233 Doþ itt te nan oþerr god. But an þatt tatt tu gowesst. Þær onne.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15567 He wolde al þis kine-lond setten an heore hond. bute [c1300 Otho bote] þat he icleoped weore king.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 281 I can nouȝt but þat I can nouȝt.

1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Fvii^v Wherby I can not see what good they haue doone: but that men may more sickerlye be euell.

1624 J. Ussher Answer to Challenge by Iesuite 144 The Minister..signifieth nothing else by those words, but that hee..conferreth the sacrament of reconciliation or absolution.

1752 Adventurer No. 12. ⁋11 A formal prig, of whom he knew nothing but that he went every morning and evening to prayers.

1896 Argosy Mar. 591/2 Nothing would satisfy him but that this team should be hitched up to a handsome three seated drag.

1931 I. Compton-Burnett Men & Wives xii. 157 We heard that you were clothed and in your right mind, Lady Haslam, but nothing would do for Mother but that I should come to inquire.

(b) With omission of that. Now Scottish and Irish English.

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OE Coronation of Edgar (Parker) 13 Ða agangen wæs tyn hund wintra geteled rimes fram gebyrdtide bremes cyninges.., buton ðær to lafe þa agan [read þa get] wæs wintergeteles..seofon and twentig.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3798 Nes þer nan oðer ræd buten Nennius iwarð dæð [emended in ed. to dæd].

c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 558 Is in þe eni oþer note Bute þu hauest schille þrote.

c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 52 Þu art hire ilich of alle þinge..Bute þu ert a man and heo a maide.

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 5762 (MED) Y take þe here, And me to selle..Y ne recche vn-to whom, But onlych he haue þe crystendom.

1713 Guardian 28 Aug. 2/1 Nothing would satisfie Sir George..but he must go into the Den.

1794 A. Thomas Newfoundland Jrnl. (1968) viii. 103 Nothing would serve me but I must have a Red Waistcoate, trimmed with Gold.

1820 H. Matthews Diary of Invalid 174 Nothing would please him but I must try on his mitres.

1879 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 514/2 Naught would do him but he must have his try at it.

1933 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Cloud Howe i. 55 And nothing could content him but up she must go, leaving Melvin below to glower after the gowks.

1956 M. McLaverty in Dublin Mag. July 32 Nothing would do him but open up the gate again and go back for that old bit of rope.

1995 E. Toman Dancing in Limbo 251 Now nothing would do him but they'd set out for Dublin on their own.

b. Introducing a consideration or reason to the contrary: except for the fact that, were it not that. Chiefly in but that.Formerly that was occasionally omitted.

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eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) vi. xiv. 141 He wæs swiþe yfel monn ealra þeawa, buton þæt he wæs cene, & oft feaht anwig.

c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 1438 (MED) Nere for Ioye she swounyd swythe, But as that he her helde vpRyght.

?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 38 (MED) Myn handwerk to sle sore grevyth me but þat here synne here deth doth brewe.

a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clvi. f. lxxxiiii^v In hym was no thynge to be dyscommendyd, but that he helde his Doughter so longe vnmaryed.

1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 25 Wemen comend it [sc. Alsine] greatly, and som say they haue tried it them selues... But that when I tasted it, had like to haue made me vomit.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 41 And but she spoke it dying, I would not Beleeue her lips.

1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xlviii. sig. H12 Hee would bee wholy a Christian, but that he is something of an Atheist.

1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 78 We had not staid here long, but the Wind expected proved a brisque South-wind.

1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) xiv. 71 I need not have put the case so far, but that I was willing to shew, etc.

1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc i. 359 I too should be content to dwell in peace..But that my country calls.

1850 H. Taylor Sicilian Summer ii. iii Each by the other would have done the like But that they lack'd the courage.

1897 ‘O. Rhoscomyl’ For White Rose Arno (U.K. ed.) 43 I should have come up earlier now, but that I was weighing up his servant.

1992 J. Purdy Out with Stars 24 He would have taken him in his arms at that moment but that he was sure Hugh would have rebuffed him.

8. Introducing a condition.

†a. If..not, unless, except. Obsolete.

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eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xxxii. 534 Þu sægst eac þæt nan þing ne geweorðe bute hit God wille oððe geðafie.

OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) vii. 12 Bute ge to him [sc. to the Lord] gecyrren, se deofol cwecð his sweord to eow.

c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 66 Buton he wyrde asend, nere ure nan alysed fram synnum.

?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 33 Ealle he byþ ȝeswenced and, bute he þe hraþar ȝehæled beo, hyt cum hym to mycele yfele.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 147 Ne mei na Mon me folȝen, bute he forlete al.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3616 Ðat folc on him ne migte sen, But a veil wore hem bi-twen.

a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Matt. v. 20 That but [E.V. c1384 Douce 369(2) but ȝif] ȝour riȝtfulnesse be more plenteuouse than of scribis..ȝe schulen not entre into the kyngdom of heuenes.

?c1450 T. Gnatyshale in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 338 But I maye have helpe of my mayster and of yow I am but lost.

1531 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student (new ed.) xli. f. cv^v No man may take that man but he haue auctoryty from the Sheryffe.

a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) v. vi. sig. I.j. This man is angry but he haue his [gaines] by and by.

b. Following various emphatic expressions.

(a) With a following emphatic assertion preceded by an imprecation against oneself: if..not (e.g. Beshrew me, but I shall go = ‘may evil befall me if I do not go’). Now archaic and rare.

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c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 110 Als witterlie as evur he was in fonte-stone, bod it was as he sayde.

?1589 T. Nashe Almond for Parrat f. 16^v Beshrewe mee but those Church-liuings would come well to decayed courtiers.

1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. vi. 52 Beshrow me but I loue her hartilie.

1691 J. Wilson Belphegor i. iii Beshrew me, but I should have broken my heart.

1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires ii. i. 167 Let me die but your Advice were best.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. vii. 59 May this glass suffocate me but a fine girl is worth all the priestcraft in the nation.

1787 I. Bickerstaffe Sultan ii. i. 15 Let me die but I believe it is their dinner.

1884 Harper's Mag. May 953/2 Beshrew me, but the day has grown dark since he left.

1932 T. E. Lawrence tr. Homer Odyssey (new ed.) xvii. 238 Beshrew me, but the dog talks as if he would bewitch us.

†(b) After it is marvel, it is ten to one, and similar expressions. Obsolete.it is odds but: see odds n. 6a.

ΚΠ

1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 3^v If a kyng or a prynce byleue the fayre wordes and flateryngis of hys ennemyes..it is meruaylle but the sayd kyng or prynce therby sodeynly take harme.

1534 N. Udall Floures for Latine Spekynge gathered oute of Terence f. 16^v Mirum ni domi est. It is meruaylle but he is at home.

1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. (1843) 124 It is marvel but you will say, a dead body is not altogether void of strength.

a1623 W. Pemble Vindiciæ Gratiæ (1627) 135 Tis wonder but these men will deny all other Habits too.

1649 Man in Moon No. 29. 233 A hundred to one but it was his Worships houshold sinner.

1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim viii. 35 It is a thousand to one but they will find the means.

1710 S. Palmer Moral Ess. Prov. 334 'Tis a million to one but they wish it had never been done.

1713 R. Steele in Guardian 27 Mar. 1/1 'Tis odds but you lose.

?1780 R. King New Cheats of London Exposed 28 Ten to one but you are had.

1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 261 It is odds but he miscarries in his suit.

1864 C. M. Yonge Trial I. xii. 238 Ten to one but the police have got them.

1872 Aldine 5 176/2 But if you call at a farm house for a cup of milk, it is ten to one but you are told that they have none to spare.

1912 J. Galsworthy in Metropolitan Feb. 15/3 You infernal idiot! Ten to one but you've broken my connection, turning up the lights like that.

†(c) With phrases expressing a warning or threat (e.g. I'd burn the house down but I'd find it = ‘even though I should have to burn the house down, I'd find it’). Obsolete.it shall go hard but: see hard adv. Phrases 1.

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a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) xxxiii. sig. Fv I wyll abyde here this seuen yere but I will wynne it.

1575 G. Gascoigne Glasse of Gouernem. sig. E.ii Surely it shall go hard but I will haue a sling at this damsell.

1643 T. Warmstry Answer Observ. W. Bridges conc. Present Warre 21 Hee will worke wonders but he will doe it.

1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 174 It shall go hard but they will throw up his heels.

1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 146 They would go quite up to the Andes, but they would find them.

1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions xii. 301 If it was made of something the Fire wou'd not destroy,..I'd burn the House down but I'd find it.

1793 R. Burns Scots, wha Hae in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 708 We will drain our dearest veins, But they shall be free!

1839 New Monthly Mag. 56 513 It shall go hard but we shall damage the theory.

9. After various verbs in negative or interrogative constructions, reversing the effect of the negative or interrogative so as to affirm more emphatically the dependent clause (e.g. I don't know but she's got notions into her head = ‘I think it likely that she's got notions into her head’). Frequently in but that.

(a) After verbs and verbal phrases expressing mental affirmation, as believe, be sure, conceive, conclude, persuade, say, see, think, wit, and (esp.) know. Now rare (chiefly regional).

ΚΠ

OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 456 Se bisceop wæs bysig mid þam cynincge, and nyste butan hi sungon þone lofsang forð on.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4146 & þu hit nult ileuen beoten hit læssingge beo, ich hit wulle trousien þurh minne tir-fulne godd.

a1400 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 56 Peraventure ȝee seyen that no man schal make ȝou to byleven but that it is good to pleyen the passion of Crist.

?1506 Thystorye vii. Wyse Maysters Rome (new ed.) sig. Liii Tho became þ^e sheryf so colde þ^t he wyst not but to dye for colde.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. Ee.v^v Thinke not but it dooeth brenne my heart.

1581 T. Styward Pathwaie to Martiall Discipline i. 28 He maie not say but that hee was forewarned.

1656 S. Hunton Golden Law 89 I see not but that..one or both are undone.

1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. ix. 33 Who knows but that Light and Cold may have kindness one for the other.

1741 S. Richardson Pamela 206 I could not persuade myself..but that I should do better for her than my Mother had wished me to do.

1746 P. Francis tr. Horace Art of Poetry in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles 313 Sirs, you do not know But he fell in on purpose.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 134 Who knows but we might see a lord holding the bowl to a minister.

1847 Blackwood's Mag. 61 220 How could he tell but that Mildred might do the same?

1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 5 Sept. 3/4 I am not sure but that there is a state of facts by which..the Constitution would be in some danger.

1887 H. Caine Son of Hagar i. Prol. I'll not say but other folks look a mort madder nor ever I looked.

1915 G. A. Cleveland Maine 164 Oh, I didn't know but you might be one o' them ere Boston sport fishermen, them's what they were.

1977 M. Treacy in D. Marcus State of Art 369 We sent you a postcard; I don't know but that we sent you two and that's all the heed you put in it.

2011 20th-cent. Lit. 57 389 Who knows but that what arises from the rubble might not be better than what we have now?

(b) After deny. Now rare.In this use, but has the effect of affirming the dependent clause without cancelling the preceding negative.

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c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 287 It is not to be denied but that thei [sc. the clergy] hadden veri cyuyl lordschip vpon the xlviij. citees receyued of hem in her firste endewyng.

c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 179 What ye me geve y may it not denye But hit agre as for myn aventure.

1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies Fruitf. Exhort. ii, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) i. 11 Yet no man can deny, but this is the chiefe.

1575 G. Gascoigne Certayne Notes Instr. in Posies sig. T.ij^v I will not denie but this may seeme a preposterous ordre.

1610 T. Bell Catholique Triumph v. 174 I will not deny but the Minister hath some skill in botching togeather of old endes of Diuinitie.

1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim viii. 33 I will not deny but that it is a difficult thing.

a1719 Def. Nat. & Revealed Relig. (1739) I. 369 Those that hold a Soul or Life in Matter..cannot deny but this power is invisible.

1790 W. Paley Horæ Paulinæ i. 5 I cannot deny but that it would be easy.

1891 Jrnl. Amer. Geogr. Soc. N.Y. 23 615 We cannot deny but that, originating in this manner, subsequent generations may have acquired a fondness for these cañon fastnesses.

1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song 33 Nor could a body deny but that Long Rob's boar was one of the best in the Mearns.

b. After verbs and verbal phrases expressing dubiety, as doubt, despair, scruple. Cf. sense C. 9d. [Compare classical Latin non dubito quin ‘I don't doubt that’.]

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a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 12322 She..douted nouȝt But goddes wille wolde be wrouȝt.

1471 in Archaeologia Cantiana (1877) 11 361 (MED) The which if ye soe doo, We doubte not but it shall not onely be vnto you grete honoure and Worship but alsoe to your prevaile.

1521 W. Warham Let. 8 Mar. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 239 I doubt not but it is to your good Grace right pensiful hearing.

1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. D.iv^v I dout not but there were blanchers in the olde time.

1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel i. 23 I make no question, but they do farre excell them.

1656 Disc. Auxiliary Beauty 73 Who..scruples, but that they may lawfully be pluckt out?

a1661 T. Fuller Triana (1867) iii Sabina's friends despair not but..to mould him.

1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 482 They questioned not but to strike terror into the Romans.

1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind iii, in Wks. (1863) I. 116/2 Nor is it to be doubted, but smells..would appear to have as great variety.

1832 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. 5 399 Who doubted but the catastrophe was over?

1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. i. 19 We..have no doubt but it will yet spring up.

1870 J. Ruskin Lect. Art (1875) 87 I do not doubt but that you are surprised.

1929 Science 1 Mar. 253/2 There is no doubt but that the reconstituted adult organ would luminesce even if the larval organs had been removed.

1932 R. Macaulay Shadow Flies i. xviii. 159 No question but the witch'll walk, starkling all the countryside.

2009 P. Glennie & N. Thrift Shaping Day ii. 56 There is no question but that the striking of the clock would have been familiar to Roger Martin.

c. After verbs and phrases expressing prevention.

†(a) After God forbid, and similar expressions. Obsolete.

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c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. iv. l. 149 Lord it me for-bede Bote ich be holiche [read holly] at þyn heste.

c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 910 God forbede but a woman can Ben as trewe & louynge as a man.

1536 J. Gwynneth Confut. Fyrst Parte Frythes Boke sig. h.iiii Treason abydyng in his olde odibylyte styll (as god forbede but it shold i ded).

1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 40 And God defend but still I should stand so.

1659 H. Newcome Sinners Hope 119 The Lord forbid but that I should pray for you.

1821 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1971) V. 139 God forbid but that by hook or crook you shall be enabled to make both ends meet, without incurring any Cambridge Debt.

1863 J. Ruskin Let. Mar. in Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 70 325 If you believe the Resurrection (and God forbid but that you still may—) hold to that.

†(b) After hinder, prevent, restrain, etc. (now followed by from with the gerund, or the gerund alone). Also after fail, forbear, hold, etc. (now followed by an infinitive or gerund with or without from). Often with infinitive as verb of the dependent clause. Obsolete.to miss but: see miss v.¹ 5b.

ΚΠ

1510 A. Chertsey tr. Floure Commaundementes of God (de Worde) i. xxiv. f. lvi^v/1 Yf I may not auoyde but that I muste go thorowe them.

1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 81 b If you loke in the boke..you shal not faile but find them.

1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 23 He cannot let but haue in his shop men that must worke of his occupation.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxv. 253 Our maker may not be in all cases restrayned, but that he may..manifest his arte.

1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. clxxii. 482 You shall not faile but..you shall spet in his mouth.

1626 G. Hakewill Comparison 29 He could not hold but let fall teares at the sight thereof.

1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. ii. §156. 69 These words..shall not bind him but that hee may enter.

1653 Cloria & Narcissus 294 Cloria..could not forbeare but plainly to tell him her thoughts.

1656 Disc. Auxiliary Beauty 70 What..hinders..but that we may study to adorn our lookes?

1713 J. Addison Cato iii. vii. 18 What hinders then, but that thou find her out?

1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Antiq. Jews x. x, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 317 It could not be avoided but their..colours must be changed.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Gardener's Daughter in Poems (new ed.) II. 27 You cannot fail but work in hues to dim The Titianic Flora.

1893 B. Carman Low Tide on Grand Pré 57 What's to hinder but I follow This my gypsy guide afar, When the bugle rouses slumber?

†(c) After I see not or I see no cause. Obsolete.

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a1530 T. Lupset Compend. Treat. Dyenge Well (1534) sig. C.vi^v I see not but the strength of mannes minde fully fastened in fayth, may victoriousely ouer come all this feare.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxi. 208 I see not but the rest..may be borne with.

1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel ix. 236 I see no cause..but that the Spaniardes should rather feare vs.

1700 J. England Man's Sinfulness & Misery 428 I see not, but that the Doctrine of pardon, and faith in order to it, may be defended by this Doctrine of Christ's being a legal Representative.

1754 S. Emlyn Queries E. C's case (single sheet) I see not but that they may take Refreshment, and retire to Rest in a Place provided for them.

1820 J. Penrose Inq. Human Motives i. xii. 128 I see not but that it is a true perfection to preserve..the same perfect and unviolated equanimity.

†(d) After there wanted but little. Obsolete.

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1584 E. Paget tr. J. Calvin Harmonie vpon Three Euangelists 646 For..it wanted but little, but that in one day there should haue beene a signe giuen, to slaye them euerye where.

1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 624 There wanted but little, but that the people had killed the Judges.

1727 F. Altieri Dizionario Inglese & Italiano at But There wanted but little but he had struck him, poco mancò che non lo bastanasse.

(e) After cannot help (see help v. 11b).

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1756 E. Haywood Wife iv. 29 I cannot help but heartily pitying the husbands of those butterfly wives who are every day flaunting in the Mall.

1777 in E. B. O'Callaghan Documentary Hist. State of N.-Y. (1851) IV. 950 We Cant help but recomend him to the state as worthy to receive such releaif as they think a faithful person ought to have.

1852 Masonic Rev. Feb. 160 Our friends..should call and see his stock and ask the prices—they cant help but be suited.

a1867 M. Faraday Let. in P. Day Philosopher's Tree (1999) xiii. 198 I cannot help but feel drawn towards them by their affinity to us.

1923 N. Coward Shake your Feet in B. Day N. Coward: Compl. Lyrics (1998) 59/2 Everybody, everybody, listen to me, I can not help but enthuse.

1961 S.-Y. Ch'ên Chinese Lit. i. 12 This preponderant monosyllabism of archaic Chinese could not help but produce an embarrassing result—the large numbers of homonyms.

2014 Radio Times 20 Sept. (South/West ed.) 134/1 You can't help but warm to [Professor Brian] Cox as he summarises very complicated ideas in simple, accessible language.

d. After fear and †dread. Cf. sense C. 9b. Now rare.

ΚΠ

?1504 M. Beaufort tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) iv. x. sig. biv And thanne drede nat but god wyll pardon the.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxi. 212 Fere not but ye shalbe well payed.

1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. Ep. Ded. sig. ✠ii^v/2 Yet I feare not, but that this booke, beyng so necessary for the commune weale, shall be vnto youe ryght pleasaunt.

1641 T. Edwards Reasons against Independant Govt. Congregations 20 I doe not feare but that these few Souldiers will be able to returne againe.

1660 R. Southwell Let. 20 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1965) I. 355 I feare not but he will most effectually Compasse his designe.

1692 C. Gildon Post-boy rob'd of his Mail I. cxvi. 337 I could not fear but that all your Imployments would meet with good fortune.

1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 139 I would engage my Life to bring them to the Island of St. John..and did not fear but we should be much better off than their Consorts.

?1797 T. Shaw Let. to Alexander Mather 21 If any one can swallow this mountain, we need not fear but he will drink up the largest river in Europe to rinse it down.

1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 6 684 I do not fear but that my grandfather will recover.

1879 M. Oliphant Within Precincts II. xvii. 15 Never fear but I'll go.

1918 Virginia Law Reg. 4 302 We do not fear but that our courts will measure up to their high duty as patriots and judges of the law.

1972 J. B. Keane in Lett. (1996) 75 Have no fear but he planted the bulbs of doubt in the collective crania of The Lochnanaanites.

10. After negative and questioning constructions.

a. (With unexpressed non-referential it and copula) not but (that): (affirming the statement in the dependent clause) it is not but that, (sometimes also) it is not to say but that. Cf. C. 9a(a). Now chiefly regional.

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c1300 St. James Great (Laud) l. 316 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 43 Þene traitur..wel sone out huy souȝten And an-henguen him wel heiȝe a-non, and nouȝt bote he wuyrþe were.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Thess. iii. B Not but that we had auctorite, but to geue oure selues for an ensample vnto you to folowe vs.

1641 R. Greville Disc. Nature Episcopacie ii. i. 67 Not but that they were most worthy men.

1670 A. Marvell Let. 14 Apr. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 317 Not but the other Cabal too have seemingly sometimes their Turn.

1717 A. Pope Disc. Pastoral Poetry in Wks. 8 Not but he [sc. Spenser] may be thought imperfect on some few points.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. i. 4 Not but that we sometimes had those little rubs [etc.].

1768 I. Bickerstaffe Lionel & Clarissa i. iv. 10 Not but your father has good qualities.

1806 Crit. Rev. 7 477 Not but that imitation has always a bad effort on literature.

1815 Zeluca III. 82 Not but I'd rather set out; for it's quite unfair to sing a foolish thing that nobody likes, when I could do better.

1840 J. G. MacVicar Catholic Spirit True Relig. i. 34 Not but that I should be very happy to think of these pages being perused by any members of that communion.

1932 A. Bell Cherry Tree v. 44 Not but that I missed..the level brown bank of the field harrowed and drilled on the eve of spring.

1968 E. McCabe King of Castle (1978) 54 They'll burn quicker for their bad sermons, not but Peter Hannigan's a decent wee man.

b. Introducing an inevitable accompanying circumstance or result: so that..not. Formerly sometimes in but that. Now rare.Now generally expressed by without and gerund (e.g. you cannot look but you will see it = ‘you cannot look without seeing it’).it never rains but it pours: rain v. Phrases 2.

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a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 473 (MED) Sche schal noght with hir litel too Misteppe, bot he se it al.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 9654 He may not scape where he go But him assaileþ euer his fo.

?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 24 No straungere cometh before him but þat he maketh him sum promys.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. M.iv^v One unhappynes chaunceth not, but an nother foloweth.

a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. ii. sig. B.j^v Ye passe not by, but they laugh till they be werie.

1644 P. Heylyn Stumbling-block in Hist. & Misc. Tracts 653 The Magistrate cannot be resisted, but that God is resisted, also.

1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 7 For Rhetorick, he could not ope His mouth, but out there flew a Trope.

1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. i. 123 You cannot dip into a Diary but you will find it.

1758 S. Johnson Idler 1 July 97 Scarce any couple comes together, but the nuptials are declared in the News Papers with encomiums on each party.

1796 E. Inchbald Nature & Art II. xxxiii. 92 Nor did she ever weep, but he wept too.

1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi III. x. vi. 300 He had never confided, but he had been betrayed.

1889 F. Thompson in Merry Eng. Sept. 306 For there is nothing lives but something dies, And there is nothing dies but something lives.

1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song i. 44 You could go never a road but farmer billies were leaning over the gates, glowering at the weather.

†c. After expressions of likelihood. Also in but that.

(a) After it cannot be, it is impossible, it is not possible, is it possible?: except that, other than that. Obsolete.

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c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §265 It is impossible but he be tempted som tyme.

c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 17 (MED) Merci hath many praieres, and it is impossible but that many preiers most nedis be exhauncid.

1539 Bible (Great) Luke xvii. 1 It can not be but offences wyl come [ Wyclif, It is impossible that sclaundris come not; 1526 Tindale, It can not be avoyded but that offences will come; 1582 Rhem., It is impossible that scandale should not come; 1611 Bible, It is impossible but that offences will come].

1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes (1582) 185 It cannot be but that the writings of such a woman..were very lively.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. x. 148 How is it possible but that we should be discontent.

1645 Mercurius Britanicus No. 100. 889 Its impossible but the University should have been able to afford a single sheet in all this time.

1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico viii. 7 She said it was not possible but she must be in great anxiety.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 239 It cannot be But that success attends him; if mishap, Ere this he had return'd.

1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 170 It was impossible but he should see it.

1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman Ded. p. v I think it scarcely possible, but that some of the enlarged minds..will coincide with me.

1801 G. Culley Let. 9 Nov. in M. Culley & G. Culley Farming Lett. (2006) 201 It is impossible but John Welch must have turnips to serve more stock than he has at present, or his turnips are worse than I suppose them.

1849 M. Faraday Diary 25 Aug. in P. Day Philosopher's Tree (1999) viii. 126 It seems hardly possible but that there must be some extraordinary results to come out in relation to celestial mechanics.

1880 T. A. Spalding Elizabethan Demonol. 41 It can hardly be but that the ‘thousand noses’ are intended as a satirical hit.

(b) After it is not impossible, not improbable, not unlikely, etc.: that. Cf. C. 9b. Obsolete.In this use, but has the effect of affirming the dependent clause without cancelling the preceding negative.

ΚΠ

?1542 R. Taverner On Saynt Andrewes Day Gospels f. xxxix It is not impossible but the deuil may by art Magik and sorcery worke many wonders and maystres.

1658 G. Starkey Natures Explic. Ep. to Rdr. sig. a8^v 'Tis no unlikely but some captious Antagonist may censure my Aphorisms, as ostentatory.

1665 J. Wilson Projectors iii 'Tis not impossible but I may make my party good.

1680 Vindic. Conforming Clergy (ed. 2) 38 It is not unlikely but somebody may know.

1684 N. S. tr. R. Simon Crit. Enq. Editions Bible xviii. 184 It is not improbable but that Origen..marked the various reading.

1711 Medley No. 33 It is not impossible, but such a day as this may come, etc.

1766 Evening Post 15 May It is not improbable but Prince Heraclius wants it [sc. the city] restored to himself.

1780 M. Madan Thelyphthora I. 3 It is not impossible but that the light of that great reformer had remained hidden under the bushel of monkery.

1813 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. July 186 It is not improbable but future observations will add Pliny's Well to the class of irregular reciprocators.

d. Following an adjective or adverb modified by not so: that..not (e.g. he was not so brave but (that) he hesitated = ‘he was not so brave that he did not hesitate’). Frequently in but that. Cf. so adv. and conj. 24d. Now rare.

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?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 32 (MED) Þat feld is not so wel closed but þat men may entren at here owne list.

1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 100 I coude not so fast flee, but that the terrible dragon cast vpon me a gobet of the moste detestable infeccion that euer was.

a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. C.vj^v There is nothyng that is so loste but that there is hope of recoveryng.

1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 33 There was neuer fort so strong, but it might be battered.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. iv. i. iii. 755 No Garden so well tilled, but some noxious weedes growe vp in it.

1648 Bp. J. Hall Select Thoughts 148 No Indian is so savage, but that he knows the use of his Tobacco and Contra-yerva.

1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 203. ¶6 It will be impossible..to make them so fast, but a Cat..will find a way through them.

1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision I. xxv. 111 Yet 'scap'd they not so covertly, but well I mark'd Sciancato.

1883 E. Gosse 17th Cent. Stud. 10 Lodge was not so vagrant a person but that he had married by this time.

1905 Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel xvi The present is not so glorious but that I should not wish to dwell a little in the past.

1939 G. L. S. Shackle in Oxf. Econ. Papers OS-2 135 Human nature is not so widely various but that..the resultant of these individual tastes in the matter of spending or not-spending will be much the same.

e. Introducing a clause indicating some restriction on the statement about the subject or object in the main clause.

†(a) Before an (anaphoric) pronoun as subject or object in the subordinate clause referring to the subject or object of the main clause: except that, that..not. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. l. 1503 (MED) Þer nas..Nat left a man withInne Troye toun Þat able was to stonden in bataille..but þei comen oute.

J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 923 (MED) Nas ther non so strong, but he dyd hym bere Owte off hys sadyl.

?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. C.j^v There was non that there was But he had an offyce more or lasse.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings xx. 15 There is nothynge in my treasures but I haue shewed it them.

a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. vi. §4. 255 There is no sicknesse, but it hath his redresse.

1662 H. More Immortality of Soul (ed. 2) 66 in Coll. Several Philos. Writings We cannot conceive of any portion of matter but it is either hard or soft.

1704 A. Pope Corr. 26 Dec. (1956) I. 2 No Beggar is so poor but he can keep a Cur, and no Author is so beggarly but he can keep a Critic.

a1718 W. Penn Tracts in Wks. (1726) I. 674 There is no Government in the World, but it must either stand upon Will and Power, or Condition and Contract.

1848 J. Spedding Evenings with Reviewer II. 392 Hardly a man passes by but he must add a wreath to it.

1880 Daily Tel. 11 Dec. There never was a reform yet propounded..but some one pronounced it forthwith to be chimerical, extravagant, and Utopian.

1888 R. L. Stevenson Black Arrow ii. i. 100 Not a man but he is some deal heartened up!

(b) With the pronominal subject or object of the subordinate clause unexpressed, so that but acts as a negative relative: that..not, who..not (e.g. Not a man but felt this terror, i.e. there was not a man who did not feel this terror, they all felt this terror). Now archaic and rare.

ΚΠ

c1500 Three Kings' Sons (1895) 168 There be none othir there that knowe me, but wold be glad to wite me do wele.

1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. dd.iv I thynke there be no man but somtyme hath had thexperyence of the Ioye and pleasure that is in the soule after true confessyon.

1532 H. Latimer Let. in Wks. (1845) 340 Who can dissolve it, but shall seem [translating L. nisi qui videbitur] to repugn against God?

1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lii. 4 No kind of flie a liue, but was there that day.

1587 T. Churchyard in J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) f. 267 ^v Not one of these, but gaue his maister thanke.

1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. li. sig. I8 There is no man of worth but has a piece of singularity.

1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 55 There is no Prince in Christendom but is directly a Tradesman.

1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 343 There was scarce a Plantation near me, but had some of them.

1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 222 There is no work whatsoever but he can criticise.

1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 43 Not a man but felt the terror in his hair.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. xxii. 368 Hardly one of the Frenchmen round, but..looked on Hereward as a barbarian Englishman.

1883 Continent 28 Feb. 280/2 She has asked them all to come and see her off, and not one but has answered to the call.

1957 R. Sutcliff Shield Ring iv. 38 There is scarce one among us but knows the fells as a man knows his own kale-garth.

f. After various limiting temporal expressions. Also in but that.

(a) After no sooner: than (e.g. No sooner said, but done, i.e. no sooner said, than done). Cf. soon adv. 12b.

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J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 1996 (MED) Thys word nas sunner spokyn, but that the deuyl gan owte flye.

a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 107 He had no sunner seyde the worde but there com in four knyghtes.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxiv. 264 He had no sooner made his wysshe but they were set on the table.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xix. sig. M1^v Philoclea no sooner espied the Lion, but that..she lept vp, & ran to the lodge-ward.

1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements i. xxxiii. 188 It was no sooner said but done.

1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον i. 30 That was no sooner heard but they fell into a divine rapture resembling madnesse.

1662 I. T. Haughton's Grim the Collier iii. 43 in Gratiæ Theatrales He, poor Heart, no sooner heard my newes, But turns me up his Whites, and falls flat down.

a1674 Earl of Clarendon Hist. Rebellion (1717) III. ii. xvi. 722 Which was no sooner ended, but that all the City-Bells rang out.

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. vi. v. 257 No sooner acquainted my Brother; but he immediately wanted to propose it.

1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. I. viii. 265 Which Nicias had no sooner notice of, but he embarked his troops.

1783 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies (new ed.) VI. 293 They were no sooner landed at Barbadoes, but the monster sold her who had saved his life.

1844 T. Stephen Hist. Church Scotl. III. li. 434 No sooner was this storm over, but a tempest arose which did terrible execution.

1998 What Cellphone Nov. 38/2 We've waited a long time for Nokia to announce its plans on dual-band handsets, but no sooner does it reveal all, but the phone arrives in the market.

†(b) After not far, not half, not long, scarce, scarcely, etc.: when, before. Obsolete.

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c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 41 (MED) It was not long bot of Bretane and of othre contres ther come enwe.

1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 230 They were scant entred, but that the frenchmen came thyder.

1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) R iij b We had not long furth past, but that we sawe Blacke Cerberus.

1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 18 He scarsly spake the worde, but by and by..vnto her flankes they flewe.

a1650 S. D'Ewes Autobiogr. & Corr. (1845) (modernized text) I. 240 I was scarce come into commons, but..I was set at work, arguing a moot-point or law-case on Thursday night after supper.

1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 35 He had scarce rub'd his eyes..but Darius fled.

1713 J. Addison Cato iv. iv Scarce had I left my father, but I met him.

1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 24 Nor had we receiv'd him on Board half an Hour, but..we put out to Sea.

1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions xi. 237 He had not gone many Steps more, but he saw his Brother.

1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man iii. 43 He's scarce gotten out of one scrape, but he's running his head into another.

1800 S. T. Coleridge tr. F. Schiller Piccolomini i. ix. 40 Scarce have I arrived..But there is brought to me from your equerry A splendid richly-plated hunting dress.

1835 Colonist (Sydney) 16 July 228/3 Scarce a day passes but one may observe either one or more passing along the road from the chief gang to the detached party.

†(c) After it was not long after: that (e.g. It was not long after, but they rebelled, i.e. it was not long after, that they rebelled). Also in but that. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 77 (MED) Itt was not long after bot all the batells assemelyd.

1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. 156 It was not longe after but that the duke of Lancastre, etc.

1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 258/2 It was not long after, but Eustace sonne to kyng Steuan..made warre vpon duke Henry.

1635 T. Cranley Amanda 18 It was not long after but I had occasion to goe into London in company of another Gentleman.

1699 J. Field Def. Apol. for Quakers 1 It was not long after, but they rebelled against him.

†g. After (it is (a)) pity: (negating the dependent clause) that..not (e.g. It is a pity but he were a bishop, i.e. it is a pity he is not a bishop). Obsolete.

ΚΠ

1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 38 Were yt not pytie but they were canonysed sayntes?

1573 New Custome ii. iii. sig. Ciij^v It were pittie but thou were hanged before.

1598 R. Barnfield Ode in Encomion Lady Pecunia sig. E3^v Pity but hee were a King.

1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xxv. 233 Pity but his eyes were out that squints at his own ends in doing Gods work.

1667 H. More Divine Dialogues i. 64 It's pitty but what you say should be true.

1729 C. Johnson Village Opera i. i. 10 Methinks it is pity but the young Folks had seen one another before Marriage.

1776 J. Leacock Fall Brit. Tyranny iv. vi. 50 It's a pity but you were a bishop, you have the scriptures so pat.

1861 C. M. Yonge Cameos lxiv, in Monthly Packet Sept. 254 Pity but we knew more of the one loyal man of his time!

1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad x. 91 Pity but somebody'd take that poor old lunatic and dig all that poetry rubbage out of him.

III. In a compound sentence, connecting the two coordinate clauses; or introducing an independent sentence connected in sense, though not in form, with the preceding sentence.In a compound sentence the second clause may be contracted so as to omit constituents also occurring in the main clause, e.g. Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God = ‘Thou hast not lied unto men, but thou hast lied unto God’; John couldn't come to see me, but Mary could = ‘John couldn't come to see me, but Mary could come to see me’.Rare in Old English; attestations are often interpreted as transitional from uses in sense C. 7 (see further B. Mitchell Old Eng. Syntax (1985) §3500). In Old English coordinate clauses are usually connected by ac ac conj.

11. In a compound sentence where the clause introduced by but completes the sense of the preceding clause.

a. As a coordinating adversative conjunction, introducing a statement contrary to, or incompatible with, a preceding one in the negative: on the contrary.

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eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 896 Næron [langscipu] nawðer ne on fresisc gescæpene ne on denisc, bute swa him selfum ðuhte þæt hie nytwyrðoste beon meahten.

a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 19 Crist..com on þisse midelerd nawiht for ure ernunge bute for his muchele mildheortnesse.

a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 142 He ne ffond no ffrut þer-on bote leues & bow.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke viii. 52 The damysele is not deed, but [L. sed] slepith.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 36 Þat wollen neyþer swynke ne swete bote swery grete oþes.

c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 368 Now is me shape eternally to dwelle Noght in purgatorie but in helle.

a1500 (?a1400) Stanzaic Life of Christ (Harl. 3909) (1926) l. 9586 (MED) He endeles is, ne creatur bot creatour.

1513 T. More Hist. Edward V 3 [He] began not by warre, but by Law to challenge the crown.

1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie ii. v. 110 Neither the matter..was arbitrarie but necessarie.

1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xvi. viii. 581 Monkeyes, and..Babiounes, were not men but beasts.

1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 18 He left not Faction, but of that was left.

1701 Laconics (new ed.) iii. liii. 95 The Grammatical observation is not worth a Farthing, but a wholesome Mythology's couch'd under it.

1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 141. ⁋10 A reply, not to what the lady had said, but to what it was convenient for me to hear.

1808 H. C. Robinson Let. 7 May in Notes & Lect. on Shakespeare (1849) I. 327 This is not virtue but vanity.

1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies i. 19 A book is essentially not a talked thing, but a written thing.

1934 ‘M. J. Farrell’ Devoted Ladies (1984) ii. 49 The bath was not a bath at all but a shallow pink shell.

2006 Malaysian Business (Nexis) 1 Mar. 28 There are also times when funding is not the problem but the lack of projects or planning tied to a budget.

(a) Introducing a statement which is not contrary to, but is not fully consonant with, or is contrasted with, the preceding one (which may be affirmative or negative): nevertheless, yet, however.

ΚΠ

OE Pharaoh 4 Nat ic hit be wihte, butan ic wene þus, þæt þær screoda wære gescyred rime siex hun[dred godra] searohæbbendra.

lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxxi. 306 Ic nat humeta [sc. how the son killed his father], buton we witon þæt hit unmennisclic dæd wæs.

a1250 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Galba) (1955) 126 Ne mihtestu þi lif helden none hwile, bute [a1275 Trin. Cambr. bote, a1300 Jesus Oxf. Ac] al þu it scoldest leten.

c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 355 Deth him tok þan he bes[t] wolde Liuen, but hyse dayes were fulde.

a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2055 (MED) He..busked euene to hire bed, bud noþing he no fond.

c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 74 Hise hors weere goode, but he ne was nat gay.

c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 14 (MED) Þay schott at hym, bot nane of þam myghte hitt hym.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. lxiii. C Abraham knoweth vs not..But thou Lorde art oure father.

1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1619/1 The armye wente on, but so muche the slowlyer, bycause the way was somewhat narrowe.

1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxxiii. sig. Y8 One may faile me by accident, but the other will doe it out of fore-intent.

1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. To Rdr. sig. A6 Now we Discourse better, but we live worse.

1703 W. Burkitt Expos. Notes New Test. Mark iv. 29 The Care and Endeavour is ours but the Blessing and Success is God's.

1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 144. ⁋8 Her face speaks a Vestal, but her Heart a Messalina.

1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. x. 89 That pride which I had laid asleep, but not removed.

1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 5 Life may change, but it may fly not; Hope may vanish, but can die not.

1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) I. 351 The hopes of the Messenians sank, but not their courage.

1887 L. Beard & A. B. Beard How to amuse yourself & Others (1987) vi. 73 These little Mayers are sometimes pursued, but few are ever caught.

1931 Horticulture 15 Sept. 392/1 When the flowers of this splendid novelty open, they are a pure white color with a chrysanthemum gold center, but as the flowers mature they assume a claret pink shade.

2017 Salem (Mass.) News (Nexis) 4 Apr. Cedar shingles are more expensive, but they are also durable.

(b) After not only, not merely. Frequently strengthened by the addition of also ( not only, but also). Cf. only adv. 3.

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c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. viii. 21 We purueyen goode thingis, not oonly bifore God, but also bifore alle men.

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Shipman's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 285 My gold is youres..And nat oonly my gold but my chaffare.

?c1430 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 511 Nott oonli..medful, butt moost medeful.

a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 236 (MED) For sekenys enfebelyth not only the body, but also al Wyse resoun and mynde.

1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xxiii. 36 It is not only allowable, but also necessary.

1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1672) 57 Artizans have not only their Growths and Perfections but likewise their Vains and Times.

1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 18 We had time not only to see the Town, but the places circumjacent also.

1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. vi. 95 I was not only endowed with the Faculty of Speech, but likewise with some Rudiments of Reason.

1780 E. Burke Speech Bristol previous to Election 21 I might not only secure my acquittal, but make merit with the opposers of the bill.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 232 The ally..was not only a Roman Catholic, but a persecutor of the reformed Churches.

1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. Prel. 21 Leofric was not merely Lord of Bourne, but Earl of Mercia.

1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 25 They not only tell lies but bad lies.

1933 A. S. Eddington Expanding Universe iii. 109 We can thus imagine space to be populated not only with real stars and galaxies but with ghosts of stars which existed 6000 million, 12000 million, etc. years ago.

2016 C. Kruse Social Life Forensic Evid. iii. 60 The investigator was sure the custodee had not only driven the car but also stolen it.

12. In an independent clause within a compound sentence (usually after a semicolon or colon), or at the beginning of a following sentence.

a. Introducing a statement of the nature of an exception, objection, limitation, or contrast to what has gone before: however, on the other hand, moreover, yet.Sometimes merely expressing disconnection, or emphasizing the introduction of a distinct or independent fact (e.g. formerly the minor premise of a syllogism: cf. quot. 1690).

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OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xv. 10 He dyde ða swa, & todælde hi on twa, buton þa fugelas he ne todælde [L. aves autem non divisit].

a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 277 Poure þu wunden was..in a beastes cribbe. Bote swa þu eldere wex, swa þu pourere was.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4121 Al hit þuncð him wel idon..bute [c1300 Otho bote] nele he þe nauere Euelin. mid ærhðe bitæchen.

c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 43 Gilbert..seide he was al to hire wille bote he moste bithenche.

a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 788 Now most I ga, bot drede þe noght.

?c1430 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 220 Ȝif ȝe axen my Fadir ony þing in my name he schal ȝeve it to ȝow. But we axen in þe name of Jesus whanne we [etc.].

1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. A.iiii^v But now you wyll aske me whom I cal a prelate.

1587 L. Mascall Bk. Cattell: Oxen (1596) 72 Some do vse to feede them on the ground without a racke, but that is thought to be..more wastfull of hay.

1611 Bible (King James) John xix. 9 But Iesus gave him no answer.

a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 293 He saw it; but, but with the eye of hope.

1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. vii. 229 All Animals have Sense; but a Dog is an Animal: Here it [sc. but] signifies little more, but that the latter Proposition is joined to the former, as the Minor of a Syllogism.

1724 J. Swift Let. to Carteret 3 Sept. in Wks. (1765) VIII. ii. 61 We are here preparing for your reception..but, whether you approve the manner, I can only guess.

1757 W. Burke Acct. European Settlem. Amer. I. iii. vi. 233 Their ladies are little celebrated for their chastity or domestic virtues; but they are still a good deal restrained by the old-fashioned etiquette.

1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 414 Fare ye well. But list! sweet youths, where'er you go, beware.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 615 Feversham passed for a good-natured man: but he was a foreigner.

1936 A. Uttley Country Child (new ed.) xiii. 233 She was swept from her path, flung against one tree, butted into another, slapped, smacked, and buffeted, but she fought doggedly on.

2014 N.Y. Mag. 8 Sept. 136/1 Their regular life is in the Canary Islands, but they were ‘technomads’.

†b. Introducing a reply to a question. Cf. why int. Obsolete. [Compare French mais, ancient Greek ἀλλά, in similar use.]

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OE tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (Cambr.) ii. §6. 157 Pilatus..ongan þa cnyhtas to axienne for hwig þæt folc þone hælend swa yfele hæfde. Hig andswaredon Pilate and cwædon: Buton hig habbað andan to hym.

a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3075 ‘Quilc ben ðo ðe sulen vt-gon?’ Quað moyses, ‘but alle! wapmen Wið erf and childre and wimmen!’

c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 809 And whuche beoþ [þe] þreo bayles ȝet..[B]ote þe inemaste bayle, I wot, Bitokneþ hire holy maidenhod.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19622 ‘Quat art þou, lauerd, sua vnsen?’ ‘Bot i hatt iesus nazaren’.

(a) After an interjection or exclamation, as yes! but, aye! but, nay! but, ah! but, oh! but, I say! but, etc., expressing some degree of opposition, objection, or protest. In later use also: (colloquial) expressing surprise or recognition of something unexpected. Now chiefly regional except in yes, but: see yes adv. 2c.

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c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 2097 Lat me go first, nay but let me.

a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) iv. sig. G4 Nay but my friends, one hornpipe, further a refluence backe, and two doubles forward: what not one crosse point against Sundayes.

1653 J. Rogers Sagrir 14 O! but some will say, What call have we?

1683 J. Crowne City Politiques i. 5 Whoo! but are'nt you wi' my Father yonder?

1722 H. Carey Hanging & Marriage 25 Ay! but has he left no dying Speech?

1773 Hist. Mr. Stanly & Miss Temple I. xxiv. 204 Oh, but he knows how to humour her!

1846 W. S. Landor Wks. I. 347 God forgive me! but I think him as worthy as the best of the saints.

1902 M. J. H. Skrine World's Delight ii. iii. 134 ‘And you've a-come 'ere to bide?’ ‘Ay. In an unco' big boat... Down the watter—eh! but it was far.’

1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey i. vii, in Mod. Comedy (1929) 42 Ah! but they think us fogeys, you know.

2015 A. Titley tr. M. Ó Cadhain Dirty Dust i. 26 Oh my! But that's very interesting.

(b) Introducing a statement on which the preceding clause has the function of commenting, often with concessive force.

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1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 91. ⁋4 You would hardly believe it, but there have been Designs even upon me.

1752 M. Browne Ess. on Universe (new ed.) iii, in Wks. & Rest of Creation 66 Who can tell but Solar Clouds may aid Mercurial Skies, and yield a gelid Shade?

1799 M. Culley Let. 15 Nov. in M. Culley & G. Culley Farming Lett. (2006) 34 It may be wrong to differ with Matt Staward, but they are proverbyal for doing little work wherever they have been as I hear.

1844 Lloyd's Penny Weekly Misc. 2 No. 94 665/1 You would scarcely believe it, but at the very time he was implying, not uttering, the greatest affection for me, he was planning in his own mind how best he could assail the heart of Margaret.

1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick iii. 17 I don't know how it is, but people like to be private when they are sleeping.

1882 Q. Rev. Apr. 399 It may sound paradoxical, but we will venture to assert that there is nothing in our literature more Demosthenean in style and method than the ‘Drapier Letters’.

1914 Amer. Mag. Sept. 42/1 You may not believe it, Jim, but I am an alumnus of the Homeburg band.

1944 Bath Weekly Chron. & Herald 3 June 11/1 I know it's Saturday, Mrs. Jones, but could you type these schedules before you go?

2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xxiii. 339 I hate to say this, but don't you see that you are with her because you feel a failure?

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1919 ‘K. Mansfield’ Let. 3 Nov. (1993) III. 66 Why believe liars: everybody lies. I don't know—but there you are.

1966 N. Gordimer Late Bourgeois World 110 How does it look to you?..It's a bit picture-postcard, but still.

1994 J. Kelman How Late it Was 125 He..rubbed behind his ears, especially the right one which was sore, although it was the left yin giving him the noise problems; but there ye go.

1997 C. Walsh in S. Champion & D. Scannell Shenanigans (1999) viii. 144 Louise is better looking but hey.

2003 J. Mullaney We'll be Back 171 In the cold light of today, I realise I must have looked like Marty Feldman trying to let off a silent but deadly, but what the heck.

(a) Used to emphasize a following word or statement. Especially in representations of the speech of French speakers. Frequently in but of course. [Compare French mais oui (see mais oui int.), mais énormément, etc.]

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1887 ‘M. Corelli’ Thelma II. ii. ii. 157 ‘I believe you would do it if I asked you!’ he said. ‘But, of course!’

1929 E. Scott Randalls Round 86 ‘You are making alterations in your church here, are you not?’..‘But yes, Monsieur.’

1992 R. Stone Outerbridge Reach xxv. 181 ‘Duffy adores you’... ‘Really?’ ‘Oh, but absolutely.’

1999 J. Elliot Unexpected Light (2000) vi. 218 But of course! A bird, a phoenix, the mythical Simorgh!

2003 W. Wax 7 Days & 7 Nights xvi. 166 But of course, ma chérie.

(b) Preceding a word repeated for emphasis.

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1920 R. Macaulay Potterism vi. iv. 239 A weekly, and it promised to sell better than any other weekly on the market, but far better.

1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xiv. 240 And about everything I talked to her: but everything.

1958 B. Nichols Sweet & Twenties x. 132 There is nothing, but nothing, to be said for the female knee.

1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief ii. iv. 158 The restaurant is French and fancy, but fancy-fancy.

2005 Furrow 56 300 And nobody, but nobody, is exempt from this vulnerability in the winter of the soul.

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1940 J. O’Hara in New Yorker 22 Oct. 13/1 He..began making cracks but loud.

1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? viii. 153 Now you've really bitched yourself up. But good.

1960 L. Cooper Accomplices ii. ii. 84 If the other..looks like getting in the way it must be turned out, but quick.

1965 I. Fleming Man with Golden Gun vi. 81 I'm goin' fix that man, but good.

2001 ‘R. Everhard’ Tattoo Naked Lady i. 19 We had to give him the blow-off but quick.

D. n.²

An instance or utterance of the word ‘but’ (cf. sense C. 12a); a verbal objection presented by a person.but me no buts: see but v. 2. ifs, ands, or (also and) buts: see and n.¹ 1.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > qualification > [noun] > instance of

conditionc1380

protestationc1390

butc1405

restrictiona1450

limitationc1475

if1532

conditionary1678

reservation1719

whereas1795

yes but1870

string1888

c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §420 Som man preiseth his neighebore by a wikked entente, for..alwey he maketh a .but. [c1435 Royal 18 C.ii butte] at the laste ende, þ^t is digne of moore blame than worth is al the preisynge.

c1450 (c1400) Bk. Vices & Virtues (Huntington) (1942) 60 (MED) For alwey whan men spekeþ good of any wyȝt to-fore hym, he fyndeþ euere-more a bute, and seiþ, ‘ȝe, bute.’

1571 Sempill Ballates (1872) 137 Ȝit botis & hummis declairis ȝow quhat I mene.

1614 T. Adams Diuells Banket iv. 139 There is a correctiue But, a veruntamen, spoyles all in the vp-shot..here is a But that shipwrackes all.

1734 G. Hickes in 3 Short Treat. To Rdr. sig. (d)^v He was observ'd to do it with so many Buts, and exceptions, that like the adjuncts, which destroy their Subject, they null'd the praises he pretended to give.

1753 Extracts Trial J. Stewart in Scots Mag. Sept. 446/2 He was a sufficient but himself for all the sum.

1872 W. Minto Man. Eng. Prose Lit. 108 We are..jerked back with a ‘but’.

1947 People 22 June 4/2 But, and it's a big but, I don't think you could ever have brought yourself to speak of your fear to the man.

2004 Music Educators Jrnl. Sept. 37/1 Fending off needed changes with all the ‘buts’ that keep us from moving beyond the status quo.

Phrases

†P1. but if: if not, unless, except; = sense C. 8a. Obsolete.Very common from 14th to 16th cent.

ΚΠ

OE tr. Bull of Pope Sergius I in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 155 Na hi..þær lætan þæne bisceop mæssan singan butan gyf he þyder cymð gelaþud of þam abbude.

c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1662 Þatt nohht ne maȝȝ ben don..But iff itt be wiþþ witt.

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13193 We hit [sc. Rome] wulleð habben, beute ȝif þu wulle icnawen beo þat Arður is king ouer þe.

1340 Ayenbite (1866) 7 He deþ aye þe heste..of holi cherche bote yef hit by uor zome nyede þet holi cherche granteþ.

c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1110 Hou schulde þou com to his kyth bot if þou clene were?

?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 13 But yef thei amende hem, the citee and the peple shulde be perysshed.

1510–13 Mery Geste of Frere & Boye sig. A.viii The boye wyll combre vs all But yf ye may hym chaste.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. v. sig. Q7^v He did not like that maides should once stirre out of their fathers houses, but if it were to milke a cow.

1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. iii. sig. Dd8^v But if remedee, Thou her afford, full shortly I her dead shall see.

1601 T. Bodley in Lett. to T. James (1926) 22 I am hartely sorie, that yow are vexed with the stone... But if it be of the kidneis, the danger is not great.

†P2. but and.

a. But also, and also. Obsolete (Scottish in later use).

ΚΠ

a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. xi. 20 Not onli the hurting..but and the looking bi drede slen. But and withoute these with o spirit thei myȝten ben slayn.

1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 595 I haf a bow, bot and a vyre.

a1505 R. Henryson Bludy Serk 12 in Poems (1981) 158 Meik bot and debonair.

1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) II. 181 A kame but and a kamingstock.

1828 P. Buchan Anc. Ballads & Songs N. Scotl. II. 35 She thought she heard a bairn greet, But and a woman's moan.

1839 Whistle-Binkie 2nd Ser. 75 In height an ell but an' a span.

b. But if. Also but and if. Cf. and conj.¹ 13. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1790 But & thow crye or noyse make.

c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 85 (MED) Bot and men schulde be commendid þat are oppressed wit disesse, þan sulde blynd men..ouer all oþer be commendid.

?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. ix. sig. K.ij^v But & thou array thy body sumptuously..thou canst nat be excused as chast in mynde.

1535 Bible (Coverdale) Matt. v. 13 But and yf the salt haue lost his saltnes.

?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xii. sig. D iij ^v But and if they bee of contrarie shadow, worke contrarely.

1638 J. Row Serm. 3 But and they [sc. Rome] had gotten their will, she [sc. Kirk of Scotland] wald a been sure of her Ladetties.

1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling i. §1. ⁋27 But and if on the other side they meet with one of too much sagacity.

1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads I. 237 But and this black hour be past, I rede ye'll rue it sair.

1869 G. A. Simcox Poems & Romances 125 But and if they do not find, Then a bitter biting wind Chases them before the moon.

P3. but for: (as preposition) except for, with the exception of; were it not for.there but for the grace of God go I: see grace of God n. Phrases 2.The collocation but for occurs commonly with various senses of but and with for both as preposition and conjunction.

ΚΠ

c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15697 Hit likede wel þan kinge buten for ane þinge.

c1523 J. Rastell Expos. Terminorum Legum Anglorum sig. A7^v/2 Y^f they haue no estate but for terme of lyfe they shall pray in ayd of hym in the reuercion.

1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Diij^v These mine eyes..But for thy piteous lips no more had seene.

1630 T. Randolph Aristippus 25 The King of Russia had died of the wormes, but for a powder I sent him.

1667 S. Pepys Diary 30 May (1974) VIII. 243 Several of the Council..would come but for their attending the King.

1781 W. Cowper Let. 24 June (1979) I. 491 The delay has enabled me to add a piece of considerable length which but for the delay would not have made its appearance upon this Occasion. It answers to the name of Hope.

1815 J. Bentham Chrestomathia ii. 12 But for the apparent paradoxicality and antisentimentality, instead of economizing, minimizing would, in this case..have been inserted.

1885 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 29 291 But for the concurrent jurisdiction, the decision..would have been the other way.

1985 B. Neil As we Forgive x. 182 The room, empty but for Lydia sitting wrapped in blankets.

P4. but now: just now, only this moment. Now rare.

ΚΠ

a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 1575 (MED) Ȝe weren brouȝt..Both tweyn But now this last nyght.

1532 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 24 We can do no lesse but now uppon the Kyngs revenue into his owne realme to gyve..thanks to Almightie God..for his prosperous..revenue.

1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 248 He is heere (Sir) about the house, I saw him but now.

1669 Earl of Orrery Black Prince in Two New Trag. v. 61 Sir, and I but now did hear, That with this Gentleman you Angry were.

1712 T. Ellwood Davideis iv. i. 192 He, who but now was over Hot and Bold, Is now become to Her exceeding Cold.

1762 S. Foote Orators ii. 56 Was it yourself that was happing about here but now.

1823 W. Scott Peveril I. iv. 123 I attach thee of the crime of which thou hast but now made thy boast.

1859 W. Barnes Rhymes Dorset Dial. II. 7 Back here, but now, the jobber John Come by.

1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 49 He is separate too, who had but now ascended Into the panarchy of created things Wearing his halo cocked.

1955 P. Sherwood St. Maximus the Confessor Intro. 29 Yet such an answer would completely evade the question that has but now been asked.

P5. but only.

†a. Introducing a word or (especially) a phrase which is excepted from the general statement: except; = sense C. 1. Formerly also but one. Obsolete.

ΚΠ

c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 46 Ha nawiht ne þearf of oðer þing þenchen, bute ane of hire leofmon.

a1325 Statutes of Realm in MS Rawl. B.520 f. 96^v Þer me ne mai noȝt vochen warant out of þe lignage bote onliche trauersen þe Entree.

c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §23. 32 F is nat consideret but only [to] declare þat A sit euene ouere the pool.

a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 122 It nedith not to..purvey, but only ffor the kynges house.

?1538 A. Fitzherbert Offices of Sheryffes sig. K.iiij The admyral hath no iurisdiccyon, but onely vpon the highe see.

1602 L. Lloyd Briefe Conf. Divers Lawes 27 There was no God but onely his maister.

1657 W. Prynne Exact Abridgem. Rec. Tower of London 16 It is enacted That no purveyance be made but only for the King.

1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 2 No Appeal can be made, but only to the Senate.

a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 480 They took little care about it, but only to find men who would bear the charge.

b. Limiting a word or phrase: only; = sense B. 2a. Formerly also but alonely, but..only, only..but. Now rare.

ΚΠ

1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 5 Another litil flode, whiche drowned, but the contre of Egipte onely.

c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxviii. 280 I had but alonely my swerde in my hande.

1598 R. Barnfield Combat Consc. iv, in Encomion Lady Pecunia sig. D3 They are indeed, but onely meere Illusions.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. xi. 6 He onely liu'd but till he was a man.

1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 5 I finde but only two sorts of writings.

1682 J. Banks Vertue Betray'd ii. 17 Woolsey shall be king, I ask but only Seymour in Exchange.

1730 R. Millar Hist. Church under Old Test. iv. 501 Archelaus the son of Herod the Great was but only an Ethnarch.

1797 J. Woodforde Diary 1 Apr. (1931) V. 23 Having sold my Barley at 8/6 per Coomb. I recd. no cash but only a Corn Note.

1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 279 (footnote) Caring only but to catch the public eye with his coarse, presumptuous, ponderous, illiterate work.

1931 E. A. Wetherald Lyrics & Sonnets 215 You send across the hedge of reverence To me who see you only but to bless.

P6. In the subordinate clause (protasis) of a conditional sentence. if——did but know, did——but know: if——only knew.

ΚΠ

a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. vii. 18 Didst thou but know the inly touch of Loue.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. iii. 46 Did you but know the Citties Vsuries, And felt them knowingly.

1710 C. Shadwell Fair Quaker of Deal i. i. 6 If the Government did but know what a Swabb thou art.

1801 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1956) II. 745 If you did but know what a flutter the Old Moveable at my left Breast has been in, since I read your letter.

1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! xxxii. 298 Maybe those frozen dadpoles down there on the manky floor had gotten lucky did they but know it.

2005 Church Times 15 Apr. 29/4 Ah, if they did but know the muddle that is in the writer's head.

P7. all but (as an adverb or adjectival phrase): see all adj., pron., n., adv., and conj. Phrases 23b. but that: see senses C. 7, C. 9, C. 10. but what: see what pron., adv., int., adj.¹, conj., and n. Phrases 1a.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	but
释义	† butn.¹ Origin: A variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymons: put n.¹, butt n.³, butt n.⁷ Etymology: Either (i) a variant of put n.¹ (which occurs in close proximity in the same poem: see quot. c1300 at put n.¹ 1), or (ii) a specific use of butt n.³, or (iii) a specific use of butt n.⁷ (compare c1450 at butt n.⁷ 1). Obsolete. A throw of a stone or other heavy weight. Cf. put n.¹ 1. ΚΠ c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1040 He maden mikel strout Abouten þe alþerbeste but. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021). butadj.n.³ Brit. /bʌt/, U.S. /bət/, Scottish English /bʌt/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: but adv. Etymology: < but adv. (see but adv. 1b). Originally and chiefly Scottish. A. adj. Outside, outer, exterior. Usually in but end. Cf. but adv. 1b.Now effectively a compound use of the noun. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > [adjective] outwardeOE outwithc1225 outa1300 outermorea1425 withoutforthc1503 exterial1528 outforth?1541 butc1570 exterior1570 extrinsical1594 extrinsic1613 externala1616 outside1634 exoteric1662 extern1666 c1570 in W. Fraser Lennox (1874) II. 277 The butt dur. 1619 Sir R. Boyle in Lismore Papers (1886) I. 219 The but end of a great stone howse that was never fynished. 1862 R. H. Story in Athenæum 30 Aug. 270 He conducted me to the but end of the mansion. 1904 E. Rickert Reaper x. 113 With a crash the but-door banged open. 1918 T. Manson Humours of Peat Comm. I. ii. I would ask him to remember he is not in the butt end of a crofter's house, talking with his neighbour. 1966 D. Sutherland Against Wind i. iv. 70 The but end of the house was divided in the middle by a fireplace, the portion of the room farthest from the door being known as the in-by and the other half as the out-by. 1986 R. A. Jamieson Thin Wealth 106 Next morning, Barbara Glossop rose early, as her husband was preparing to leave for work. She looked out the tiny window of her but room. B. n.³ The outer room of a (typically two-roomed) house.Frequently in but-and-ben n. at Compounds. ΘΚΠ society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > room > types of room generally > [noun] > others hell1310 summer hall1388 summer parloura1425 paradise1485 fire room1591 garden room1619 ease-room1629 portcullis1631 divan1678 but?1700 sluttery1711 rotunda1737 glass casea1777 dungeon1782 hall of mirrors1789 balcony-chamber1800 showroom1820 mirror room1858 vomitorium1923 mosquito room1925 refuge room1937 quiet room1938 Florida room1968 roomset1980 wet room1982 ?1700 Dialogue John M'clatchy (single sheet) 1 A House is But and Ben. 1786 J. Pinkerton Anc. Sc. Poems II. 399 Farmer Lauder's house had a kitchin, in which Mrs. Lauder receives the two friars, which was the but, or outer division of the house. 1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor xi in Tales of my Landlord 3rd Ser. I. 305 Caleb..found himself behind the hallan, or partition, from which position he could, himself unseen, reconnoitre the interior of the but, or kitchen apartment, of the mansion. 1860 R. F. Burton in Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 1859 29 134 Each house has two rooms, a ‘but’ and a ‘ben’ separated by a screen of corn-canes..The but, used as parlour, kitchen, and dormitory, opens upon the central square; the ben..serves for sleeping and for a storeroom. 1861 E. B. Ramsay Reminisc. Sc. Life (ed. 18) iii. 60 A cosy but, and a canty ben. 1911 Independent (Footscray, Austral.) 25 Feb. A Glasgow workman considers this ample accommodation... It certainly is luxurious when compared to ‘the But’ and ‘the Ben’ of his fathers. a1946 R. Morrison in Ayrshire Notes (2003) No. 24. 10 There is still a wee hoose, a but and a ben where auld Nanny Curdy leeved to her end. 1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 49/1 But, the outer room in a two-roomed house. Compounds but-and-ben n. (also but an' ben, but 'n' ben, butt and ben) a house having an outer and an inner apartment; a two-roomed house. ΚΠ 1787 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) I. 295 Some kind, connubial Dear Your But-and-ben adorns. c1870 R. Buchanan Sutherland's Pansies iii I found him settled in this but and ben. 1909 Ann. Brit. School Athens 1907–8 14 351 Let us now suppose the migration northward of such a type of b'ut and b'en house to a ruder climate. 1939 Austral. Women's Weekly Suppl. 26 Aug. 6/3 She and her brother inhabited a tiny cottage—a mere ‘but and ben’ in the centre of the village. 2001 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 25 Nov. 4/6 (caption) Plea for tax hike on but and bens. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022). butv. Brit. /bʌt/, U.S. /bət/ Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: but n.² Etymology: < but n.² 1. intransitive. To say or use the word ‘but’. rare before the 19th cent. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > qualification > make conditions, stipulate [verb (intransitive)] > use 'but' but1553 1553 [implied in: T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 72 b What is geven to one by commendyng, the same is streight taken away by buttyng. (at butting n.³)]. a1625 J. Fletcher Humorous Lieut. iii. v, in F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Comedies & Trag. (1647) sig. Rrr3/2 Yes you may live: but—. Leo. Finely butted Doctor. 1872 Dublin Univ. Mag. June 632/1 Well, I'm glad to see you've some sense in you yet, but what are you ‘butting’ about? Sure there can be no buts in the matter. 1899 S. S. Sprigge Odd Issues 52 ‘But, Jim!’ mimicked the porter, stumbling into a pun; ‘what are you butting about, you silly goat?’ 1919 Amer. Chess Bull. Jan. 5 Isn't the game slow enough even at its swiftest, but you must begin hemming and hawing and iffing and butting at the very outset? 2012 K. Williams Pizza, Love, & other Stuff i. 32 ‘But, Dad,’ I tried again. ‘No buts... What are you but-ing about anyway?’ 2. transitive. To say ‘but’ to (a person). Frequently in but me no buts (now chiefly archaic and humorous). ΚΠ 1629 Wine, Beere, & Ale sig. C2^v Wine too But, but me no buts, I care not a strawe for his buts. 1678 Wits led by Nose iv. 39 But me no Buts, but get you gone I say. 1709 S. Centlivre Busie Body ii. i. 18 Cha. Sir, I obey: But—. Sir Fran.But me no Buts. 1748 J. Cleland tr. L.-F. Delisle de la Drevetière Tombo-Chiqui ii. v. 37 But me no buts.—I say, yes, stupid simpleton, that you are. 1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. xi. 236 ‘I heartily wish I could, but’—‘Nay, but me no buts—I have set my heart upon it.’ 1854 Ladies' Compan. Sept. 153/1 ‘But, George—’ ‘Oh don't “but” me.’ 1873 Frank Leslie's Illustr. Newspaper 9 Aug. 6/3 ‘But, Charley—’ ‘But me no buts, sir,’ replied Bock. 1938 Smith's Weekly (Sydney) 14 Feb. 11/6 But me no buts—and cut me no cuts. 1988 J. Leftwich tr. S. Lewin Shining through Clouds ii. xix. 95 ‘But—’ ‘Don't but me any more buts, Kopul!’ 2009 K. Donohue Angels of Destruction xxv. 214 ‘But Wiley—’ ‘Don't but me.’ This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021). butprep.adv.conj.n.² Brit. /bʌt/, U.S. /bət/ Forms: α. Old English beutan (rare), Old English butæ (Northumbrian), Old English butean (Northumbrian), Old English buto, Old English butta (Northumbrian), Old English butu (rare), Old English–early Middle English buta, Old English–early Middle English butan, Old English–early Middle English buten, Old English–early Middle English buton, Old English–early Middle English butun, Old English–1500s bute, late Old English beuton, late Old English (Kentish)–early Middle English butæn, early Middle English beoten, early Middle English beute, early Middle English botan, early Middle English boten, early Middle English butenn ( Ormulum), Middle English bote, Middle English bouten, Middle English bowte, Middle English bowten, Middle English–1500s bout, Middle English–1500s boute, 1500s boot, 1500s (1800s English regional (Cheshire)) bowt, 1800s baat (English regional (northern)), 1800s bart (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1800s bawt (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1800s beawt (English regional (Yorkshire)), 1800s bight (English regional (Cheshire)), 1800s– baht (English regional (northern)), 1800s– be-out (English regional (northern and north midlands)); Scottish pre-1700 boitt, pre-1700 bote, pre-1700 1800s bout. β. late Old English– but, Middle English potte, Middle English–1500s buth, Middle English–1500s byt, Middle English 1600s bott, Middle English–1600s butte, Middle English 1600s–1700s bot, Middle English–1700s butt, Middle English (1800s English regional (Lancashire)) bod, Middle English (1800s English regional and Irish English) bud, 1600s bitt, 1800s b'd (English regional (northern)), 1800s bo' (English regional (Lancashire)), 1800s boh (English regional (Lancashire)), 1800s bu (English regional (northern)), 1800s– bur (English regional, before a vowel), 1900s bit (English regional (Devon)); Scottish pre-1700 bott, pre-1700 bwt, pre-1700 1700s–1800s bot, pre-1700 1700s– but, pre-1700 1700s– butt. Origin: A word inherited from Germanic. Etymology: Cognate with Old Saxon biūtan , būtan (conjunction) except, but, only that (Middle Low German būten (preposition) outside, out of, without, with the exception of, unhindered by, (adverb) outside), Old High German biūzan , būzan (preposition) without, except for, distinct from (Middle High German būzan (preposition and adverb) outside, German regional baussen ) < the Germanic base of by prep. + the Germanic base of outen adv. Compare bin adv. and prep., ben adv., prep., adj., and n.¹In Middle English there is considerable distinction in meaning and function between strong (i.e. originally stressed) forms such as bouten or boute (broadly reflected by the α. forms) and weak (i.e. originally unstressed or weakly stressed) forms such as but (broadly reflected by the β. forms). Use as preposition in the senses ‘outside of’ and ‘without’ and as adverb in the sense ‘outside’ is largely confined to the strong forms in Middle English (and strong forms are rare in other uses); the same tendency is found in later English regional use in sense A. 2a, although not in Scots use in the corresponding senses. A. prep. 1. Outside of; (in later use often spec.) towards the outer part of (a house) (cf. ben prep.); (also, Scottish) along, across. Now Scottish.In Old English usually with dative when used of position, with accusative when used of motion. ΚΠ OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: Mark v. 10 Ne se expelleret extra regionem : þætte hine ne fordrife buta ðæt lond. OE Genesis A (1931) 1354 Ic wille..mid wægþreate æhta and agend eall acwellan þa beutan beoð earce bordum. OE West Saxon Gospels: Mark (Corpus Cambr.) viii. 23 He..lædde hine butan [c1200 Hatton buton] þa wic. OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Lev. (Claud.) iv. 21 Forbærne þæt cealf butan ðære wicstowe. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1116 Ðis land & þas leodan wurdon..geswencte þurh þa gyld þe se cyng nam, ægðer ge binnan burgan & butan. a1161 Royal Charter: Henry II to Certain Bishops, Earls, Sheriffs, & Thegns in J. Hall Select. Early Middle Eng. (1920) I. 12 Ic hebbe heom geunnon..fleamene frimtha ofer heore agene men, binnan Burgan & butan. a1300 (?OE) Writ of Edward the Confessor, Westminster (Sawyer 1149) in J. M. Kemble Codex Diplomaticus Aevi Saxonici (1846) IV. 215 Inne tid and ut of tid, binnan burh and buten burh, on strate and offe strate. c1550 Clariodus (1830) ii. l. 1629 The merchellis..Full bissilie went ben and but the hall. 1622 in R. Pitcairn Criminal Trials Scotl. (1833) III. 509 The said Margaret..brocht him out of his bed and thaireftir led him but the hous. 1629 in H. Paton Dundonald Parish Rec. (1936) 293 The sayd William came but the house with the knife in his hand quhairon the candle was stieking. 1768 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherdess ii. 74 Lindy..looking butt the floor, Sees Bydby standing just within the door. 1822 J. Galt Sir Andrew Wylie III. xviii. 153 Weel, weel, Jamie, gang butt the house, and see what the lasses hae got in the pantry. a1835 J. Grant Tales of Glens (1869) 52 As my father gaed but the trance till's bed, he bade us a' gang hame like gude bairns. 1856 Willis's Current Notes Jan. 2/2 So ‘gang ben the house’, is to enter this inner apartment; and to ‘gang but the house’, is to move towards the door. 1894 A. S. Robertson Provost o' Glendookie 61 ‘Gae wa' butt the hoose, Robert.’... Robert retired to the kitchen. 1933 M. Symon Deveron Days 15 I see them yet ae summer day come hodgin' but the fleer. 1952 J. R. Allan North-East Lowlands Scotl. (1974) 68 They could have drilled a staff of domestics but and ben the house. ?2002 I. W. D. Forde Hale ir Sindries ii. vii. 171 He gaed but the haw an cam bak in a meinit wi mair sairrie wittins fur Ebenezer. 2. a. Without, apart from, not having, void of. Now rare (Scottish and English regional (northern and north midlands) in later use).Esp. in Old English būtan ende, Middle English buten ende (cf. end n. 18). ΚΠ α. eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 893 Hie flugon ofer Temese buton ælcum forda. OE Blickling Homilies 33 Eal his lif he lifde buton synnum. OE Wulfstan Luke on Last Days (Hatton 113) 127 Him symle sy lof & wuldor in ealra worulda woruld a butan ende, amen. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 21 To ben a butenn ende þær. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 11815 Arður fehten wolden..buten cnihte [c1300 Otho boute eni cniht]. ?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne l. 21 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 145 (MED) I sigge for soþ, boute were, Þer nis lond on erþe is pere. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 567 As schip boute mast. c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 523 For malyse is noȝ[t] to mayntyne boute mercy with-inne. 1555 Lydgate's Auncient Hist. Warres betwixte Grecians & Troyans i. vi. sig. E.iii/2 Bout makyng of delay. 1591 (?a1425) Passion (Huntington) in R. M. Lumiansky & D. Mill Chester Myst. Cycle (1974) I. 303 This coate bowt seame, to breake yt were shame. a1627 A. Craig Pilgrime & Heremite (1631) sig. A1^v Tumbling teares bout cease. 1824 W. Carr Horæ Momenta Cravenæ 60 Touch not a cat bout gloves. 1847 E. Brontë Wuthering Heights II. v. 108 Hathecliff has send me for his lad, un Aw 'munn't goa back 'baht him. 1877 J. Young Pictures in Prose & Verse 174 I'se wad ye had a merry splore 'Bout whisky, porter, yill. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xv. 276 Tha might be anybody, standin' there be-out even a shimmy. β. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 91 Till the toun soyn cumin ar thai Sa preuely, bot noys making.1497 Minute Town-Counc. Edinb. in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 42 421 Thai sall be banist but favors.c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) viii (MED) Doun I lay bot ony tarying.c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1903) II. iv. iii. 61 Þe same was done but ony respect to Iuris, or law[is].?1611 G. Chapman tr. Homer Iliads xiv. 195 All because, Achilles keepes away. Alas, as we were nought but him; we little need to stay.a1644 W. Laud Serm. (1847) 127 They..joy in their very tears to see they cannot call but crying.1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) II. 163 I'd tak my Katie but a gown Bare-footed in her little coatie.1794 R. Burns Poems & Songs (1968) II. 744 My trunk of eild, but buss or beild Sinks in Time's wintry rage.1810 R. Tannahill Poems (1846) 21 Safe but skaith or scar.1820 A. Balfour Contempl. with Other Poems 280 Now Mr Preses, butt a' banter, Consider this, as you're a wanter.1928 J. G. Horne Lan'wart Loon 21 An' noo the loon bood gan his lane, But ony lamp or guidin' rein.1975 T. Scott Brand the Builder 17 He swaps his buits for his baffies but a soond. †b. Used elliptically, with the object not expressed: = without prep. 14a. Obsolete. ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xx. 471 Forðy mon cwið be sumum goode þæt hit ne sie ful good, forðæm him bið hwæ[s]hwugu wana; & þeah ne bið [eal]les butan. OE Ælfric Let. to Wulfsige (Corpus Cambr.) in B. Fehr Die Hirtenbriefe Ælfrics (1914) 13 Þas bec sceal mæssepreost nede habban, and he ne mæg butan beon. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 307 Stamin habbe hwase wule & hwase wule buten [c1230 Corpus Cambr. beo buten]. a1500 Trental St. Gregory (Adv.) l. 107 in Anglia (1891) 13 305 Þe ton hase ende, þat oþer is bowte. 1673 J. Ray N. Countrey Words in Coll. Eng. Words 7 To be bout as Barrow was, i.e. to be without. †3. Leaving out, barring, with the exception of, except, save.Only in Old English (and in late copies of material of Old English composition). In later use not distinguishable from use as a conjunction (see branch C.).See note at C. I. on some further Old English uses here assigned to branch C. which could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition. a. In general use. Obsolete. ΚΠ OE List of Eng. Kings (Stowe 944) in W. de G. Birch Liber Vitae New Minster & Hyde Abbey (1892) 95 Þa feng Eadmund to his broðor & heold seofoðe healf gear butan twam nihtum. OE Menologium 87 Swylce ymb fyrst wucan butan anre niht þætte yldum bringð sigelbeorhte dagas sumor to tune. lOE Canterbury Psalter xvii. 32 Quoniam quis deus preter dominum aut quis deus preter deum nostrum : forðæn hwylc god is butæn drihten oþþe hwylc god butæn urum gode. b. Following a universal statement with all, any. Cf. sense C. 2. Obsolete.In quot. OE² with buton ðam anum introducing a noun clause; cf. sense C. 7a.With use in quot. c1175 cf. sense C. 2c. ΚΠ eOE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Tanner) iii. xvii. 234 Heo ealle..forðferdon & bebyrgede wæron, buton anum cneohte. OE Beowulf (2008) 705 Sceotend swæfon, þa þæt hornreced healdan scoldon, ealle buton anum. OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) 262 Efne nu ealle ða ðing..sindon on ðinre handa, buton ðam anum þæt ðu on him sylfum ðine hand ne astrecce. lOE St. Nicholas (Corpus Cambr.) (1997) 85 He nolde þæt hit ænig man witen sceolde buton Criste ane. c1175 ( Homily: Hist. Holy Rood-tree (Bodl. 343) (1894) 18 Heo þa swa dydon alle buton him ane. B. adv. 1. Outside, without.For uses of the preposition in sense ‘without, apart from, not having, void of’ with the object not expressed, some of which could alternatively be interpreted as uses as adverb, see sense A. 2b. †a. In general sense. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > [adverb] > outside buteOE outeneOE withoutc1000 outwarda1382 withoutforthc1384 outc1390 out of door1579 outside1653 withoutsidec1660 out-over1818 outboard1935 eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 867 Þær was ungemetlic węl geslægen Norþanhymbra, sume binnan, sume butan. OE (Northumbrian) Lindisf. Gospels: John xviii. 16 Petrus..stabat ad ostium foris : petrus..gestod uel uæs stondende to duru uel æt ðær dure ute uel bute uel fore. OE Blickling Homilies 199 Þa gesamnode he mycel weorod his manna & hwearf æfter wegum ge buton geond þone wudu. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 1872 Scholde a quene beon king in þisse londe, & heora sunen beon buten [c1300 Otho boute]. c1350 (a1333) William of Shoreham Poems (1902) 39 Þe signe hys þat hys boute ydo, Þat þynge hys grace bynne. b. Scottish. Originally: (of both position and movement) outside the house. Now usually: in or into the outer or more public apartment of the house, in the anteroom or kitchen (opposed to, and frequently coupled with, ben n.²).Now less common than ben. ΚΠ c1480 (a1400) St. Bartholomew l. 22 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 180 For-thi the tempil of syk mene Wes fillit ful, but & ben. a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Two Mice l. 360 in Poems (1981) 18 Hir den..Full beinly stuffit, baith but and ben, Off peis and nuttis, beinis, ry, and quheit. a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1957) iv. xii. 53 Flambe..Spredyng fra thak to thak, baith but and ben. 1568 Wife of Aucht. iv, in Bannatyne Poems (1770) 216 Aye as ye gang but and ben. 1646 A. Henderson Let. Charles I 3 June in Papers betwixt His Majestie & A. Henderson in Εικον Βασιλικη 192 It cannot be brought But, that is not the Ben. 1681 S. Colvil Mock Poem ii. 42 Thy reason hear both but and ben halts. 1787 R. Burns Let. 1 June (2001) I. 120 I can hardly stoiter but and ben. 1827 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xxxiii, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. June 899 Bring but a bottle o' Primrose wine. 1856 Willis's Current Notes Jan. 2/2 ‘Ben i' the room’, and ‘but i' the kitchen’, are phrases quite common among farm servants. 1903 G. Cunningham Verse & Prose 102 At the deid oor o' nicht cam' a chap at the door. My mither was sleeping, but rase and gaed but. 1995 F. Garry Coll. Poems 19 This hoose is yours, the gear, the folk Ootside an in, baith but an ben. 2. Limiting a word or phrase. a. Nothing but, no more than, only, merely. Compare sense C. 1. Now somewhat literary.This use differs from that of sense C. 1 only in the absence of any negative word; N.E.D. (1888) explains it as having arisen ‘by the omission of the negative accompanying the preceding verb’, but this cannot be assumed, since it is now known to have existed in Old English concurrently with the other use.to name but a few: see name v. 7c. See also Phrases 6. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > state or quality of being simple, unmixed, or uncompounded > [adverb] > simply, only, or merely butOE onlya1325 alone?c1335 purelya1375 alonelya1400 nobbuta1400 simplya1400 plain1535 barely1577 merelyc1580 purea1616 singly1655 just1668 sommer1835 maara1931 OE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Tiber. B.i) anno 988 He lytle hwile æfter þæm lyfode butan i gear & iii monþas. lOE Ælfric Homily: De Duodecim Abusivis (Vesp. D.xiv) in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 17 Seo yfele gitsung..is helle gelic, for þan þe heo habbeð bute unafylledlice grædignysse, þæt heo fulle ne byð næfre. a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 31 Ichulle þet ȝe speken selde, & þeonne buten lutel. c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 756 Bute lese wordes þu me lenst. c1300 (?c1225) King Horn (Laud) (1901) l. 37 With him riden bote tvo. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 27 (MED) Þat welle is but twenty foot long and twenty foot brood. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xvii. l. 359 He comeþ but seilde. ?c1425 Recipe in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (Arun. 334) (1790) 465 Take rys, and gif hom but a boyle. 1512 Act 4 Henry VIII vi, in Statutes of Realm (1963) III. 51 The forsaid penaltie expressed in the said Statute is but xx s. 1606 G. Chapman Gentleman Vsher iv. sig. G^v Musicke delights but one sense. 1617 S. Collins Epphata to F. T. vi. 239 It was impious..but euen to touch the bodies of Saints dead. a1625 J. Fletcher Rule a Wife (1640) iii. 34 I tell but truth. 1647 A. Cowley Spring in Mistress ii Could they remember but last year. 1657 in T. North tr. Plutarch Lives (new ed.) Notes sig. Uuuu2^v The Greek hath it only thus, are called Victory, as it were in the abstract, as we call Our Lord Chief Justice, who is but a Justiciar. 1732 G. Berkeley Alciphron I. i. iii. 13 Do but consider this. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. iii. 17 Premature consolation is but the remembrancer of sorrow. 1794 R. Burns (title) My love she's but a lassie yet. a1834 S. T. Coleridge Lit. Remains (1836) II. 143 This happy valiancy of style is but the representative and result of all the material excellencies so expressed. 1876 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People (1882) i. §3. 30 In arms the kingdom had but a single rival. 1924 Bull. Metrop. Mus. Art 19 31/1 Two men working together could at best produce but a few yards of paper each day. 1976 W. W. Warner Beautiful Swimmers iv. 77 Catching crabs was but an occasional or leisure-time activity,..and only the unregenerate would do it on Sundays. 2008 J. C. Quick et al. Managing Executive Health i. 15 It was beneficial, provided that the amasser of the wealth realized that he or she is but a steward. †b. Neither more nor less than, absolutely, actually, just, even. Sometimes merely as a filler. Obsolete (regional in later use).See also but now. ΚΠ a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 164 (MED) He schal siȝe sore, & þanne he is but deed. ?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 56 (MED) Þou art but shent. a1500 (?c1400) Sir Triamour (Cambr.) (1937) l. 596 For well y wot þat y am but dedd. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) xxviii. sig. Eiii^v Yf thei se him they are but lost for euer. 1594 T. Nashe Vnfortunate Traveller sig. G^v He tolde mee but euerie thing that she and he agreed of. 1665 R. Boyle Disc. iii. iv, in Occas. Refl. sig. D4^v A but plausible Argument, dress'd up in fine Similitudes. 1827 W. Scott Highland Widow in Chron. Canongate 1st Ser. I. xii. 279 You do but resemble the summer-stricken stream. 1844 F. E. Paget Tales Village Children (1858) 2nd Ser. 16 My poor legs how they do but tremble. 3. colloquial (chiefly Australian, Irish English, and Scottish). Placed at the end of a sentence or clause: though; however. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > qualification > [adverb] > however, nevertheless, notwithstanding though-whetherc897 nathelesseOE though971 whetherOE yetOE neverlOE what for-thyc1175 nethelessa1200 never the latterc1225 algatec1230 in spite of (despite, maugre, etc.) one's teethc1230 nought for thatc1275 (all) for noughtc1325 (in) spite of one's nosec1325 alway1340 thoughless1340 ne'er the later (also latter)a1382 ne'er the lessa1382 neverlatera1382 neverthelessa1382 ne for-thia1400 neverlessa1400 not-againstandinga1400 nauthelessc1400 nouthelessc1400 algatesc1405 noughtwithstanding1422 netherless?a1425 notwithstanding1425 nethertheless1440 not gainstandingc1440 not the lessa1450 alwaysa1470 howbeit1470 never þe quedera1475 nought the lessc1480 what reck?a1513 nonetheless1533 howsomever1562 after all1590 in spite of spite1592 meantime1594 notwithstand1596 withal1596 in the meanwhile1597 meanwhile1597 howsoever1601 in (one's) spite?1615 however1623 in the meantime1631 non obstante1641 at the same time1679 with a non-obstante to1679 stilla1699 the same1782 all the same1803 quand même1825 still and all1829 anyhow1867 anyway1876 still and ona1894 all the samey1897 just the same1901 but1939 1939 ‘F. O'Brien’ At Swim-Two-Birds i. 37 There is a special crown for those that give themselves up to that work. It is a hard life, but, said Brinsley. 1957 ‘N. Culotta’ They're Weird Mob (1958) 71 ‘Comes up blue in the face, spittin' sand an' seaweed.’ ‘I caught a boomer just after, but.’ 1969 M. Richler Street ii. 44 ‘You always wanted it [sc. the room] for yourself, didn't you?’‘She died in there, but.’ 1979 R. Jenkins Fergus Lamont 8 ‘Oh, Fergie, you're a real braw wee kiltie!’ ‘Whaur's your sporran but?’ 1987 T. Paulin Hillsborough Script 3 Oh he's up t'something OK. Can't figure it out but. 2000 J. Robertson Fanatic 169 You can get maist things on video these days. Ye have tae look aroon but. 2007 D. McDonald Luck in Greater West ii. 29 What class ya got now?.. I got commerce. I'm thinkin' of waggin' but. C. conj. I. In a simple sentence, introducing a word, phrase, or (rarely) a clause which is excepted from the general statement. With the exception of, apart from, except, save.Compare Old English use as a preposition (see sense A. 3b). Old English attestations in senses C. 1a(c), C. 2b, C. 3b, C. 4a, C. 4b, C. 5a with the dative or accusative are ambiguous, as the case may be determined either by the main clause or governed by būtan as preposition (see further B. Mitchell Old Eng. Syntax (1985) §3631). Such examples have been assigned here in order to facilitate comparison with later usage. 1. After a negative, expressed or implied.nothing but: see nothing pron., n., adv., and int. Phrases 1a. [Regularly translating classical Latin nisi.] a. With a noun or pronoun as complement. (a) With a subjective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. None but they have a right to rule = ‘None else have a right to rule; only they do’).In quot. OE¹ with a noun phrase showing nominative case. ΚΠ OE Phoenix 358 Þæt ne wat ænig monna cynnes, butan meotod ana, hu þa wisan sind wundorlice, fæger fyrngesceap, ymb þæs fugles gebyrd. OE Ælfric Interrogationes Sigewulfi in Genesin (Corpus Cambr. 162) xxxiii, in Anglia (1884) 7 22 Nan nyten næfde nan gescead ne sawle butan he ana. lOE St. Margaret (Corpus Cambr.) (1994) 164 Næfre ne mihte me nan man ofercuman buton þu ane. c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 305 Ne meten [probably read moten] nane buten heo hoppin ne singen. ?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) (1996) ii. l. 4559 No body bot he alone vnto þe cristen cam. c1400 Comm. on Canticles (Bodl. 288) in T. Arnold Sel. Eng. Wks. J. Wyclif (1871) III. 45 Oþir God is noon but I. a1500 Roberd of Cisyle (Cambr. Ff.2.38) (1879) l. 432 There was lefte noone but he allone. 1560 A. L. tr. J. Calvin Foure Serm. Song Ezechias (1574) 48 There is none but he alone to save us. 1615 J. Loiseau de Tourval tr. H. de Feynes Exact Surv. E. Indies 26 None but he and his men can tell, what is become of them. 1673 T. Shadwell Epsom-Wells iv. ii, in Wks. (1720) 248 No people in the world can make Lattin ware, or work our tin well but they. a1722 J. Lauder Hist. Notices Sc. Affairs (1848) II. 812 None else sell it but he. 1782 W. Cowper Conversation in Poems 235 'Tis an unalterable fixt decree That none could frame or ratify but she. a1842 T. Arnold Fragm. on Church (1845) 223 None but they..have a right to rule in the Church. 2013 Arab Stud. Jrnl. 21 96 My heartfelt thanks go to the following readers for their helpful engagement with this essay, however, none but I bear responsibility for its frailties. †(b) With a subjective pronoun as notional object of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. My father hath no child, but I = ‘My father has no other child; he has only me’). Obsolete. ΚΠ OE Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xxxix. 9 Næfþ he nan þing þæt ne sy on minum anwealde buton þu [OE Laud þu, OE Corpus Cambr. þe; L. praeter te] þe his wif eart. a1450 Generides (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 902 This child hath no modre but I. 1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 141 They haue no other king but he. a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. ii. 16 My Father hath no childe, but I. a1866 in C. Engel Introd. Study National Music (1866) ix. 358 And I had nae mair bot hee, O. (c) With a noun or pronoun not showing case, or with case determined by the main clause (as in quots. a1400, a1425, 1599) (e.g. You can blame nobody but yourself = ‘You can blame nobody else; you can blame only yourself’, She fears no one but him = ‘She fears only him’).Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 194 Þa cwædon þa halgan, ne cunne we nanne God buton fæder and sunu and þone halgan gast. ?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1135 Durste nan man sei to him naht bute god. a1200 (?c1175) Poema Morale (Trin. Cambr.) l. 110 in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1873) 2nd Ser. 223 Non ne cnoweð hine alse wel buten one drihte. a1325 (c1300) Chron. P. de Langtoft (Cambr.) (1839) 307 Sum es left na thing Boute his rivyn riveling. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 5 Þou ne sselt habbe god bote me. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) Prol. l. 72 (MED) The which noman in his persone Mai knowe, bot the, god, al one. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 961 I wat bot þe haf i na frend. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 94 Love we God..and drede we noo þing but hym. 1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 637/2 You can blame no body but yourselfe. 1599 George a Greene sig. B2^v He is the man, and she will none but him. 1618 J. Taylor Pennyles Pilgr. in Wks. (1883) 23 Nothing, (but my weary self) was bad. 1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. ii. §158. 71 None speakes the same but their principall. a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo i, in Wks. (1721) III. 8 For I Nothing but Ants about this Hill descry. 1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison I. 299 None but rakes hold these over-awing doctrines. 1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 21 He wants nothing but a little common sense. 1807 J. Barlow Columbiad i. 22 Invoke no miracle, no Muse but thee. 1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 39 Nought is but that which feels itself to be. c1882 W. S. Gilbert Iolanthe 11 None but the brave deserve the fair! 1927 Blackwood's Mag. Sept. 374/2 There were none but sailors, brass-bounders, stewards. 1934 Cairns Post (Austral.) 29 May 4/5 This gangster's scheme will benefit nobody but the silver producers. 2003 Daily Mirror 1 Apr. 47/1 None but an eccentric few give a hoot. (d) With an objective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. No one knows it but me = ‘I know it but no one else does’). ΚΠ 1754 Trial Elizabeth Canning 61/1 There were nobody at all in the house but them and ourselves. 1799 G. E. Sargent Eng. Peasant Girl v. 60 There is the baby, cry, cry, crying, and nobody to take a hand at nursing it but me. 1869 B. Harte in Overland Monthly June 572/1 Thar aint nobody but him within ten mile of the shanty. 1930 Oxf. Ann. Girls 39/1 It's him—and there's no one here to meet him but me! 2003 P. Lovesey House Sitter (2004) xii. 166 Bramshill insists no one else but me will do, and won't give any details except an address in Sussex. b. With a prepositional, adverbial, infinitive, or other phrase (rarely expanded to a clause) as complement (e.g. They never do anything but change = ‘They only change; they never do anything else’). Now chiefly with following verb. ΚΠ OE Cynewulf Elene 661 Þis næfre þurh æniges mannes muð gehyrdon hæleðu[m] cyðan, butan her nu ða. OE Blickling Homilies 33 Nolde he him na andswerian buton mid monþwærnesse. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 3567 Iesuss nohht ne wollde. Ben borenn nowwhar..Butt inn hiss aȝhenn birde. c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 118 He ne mei na þing don us bute bi godes leaue. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1869) II. 27 (MED) Þat welle is..nouȝt depe bot to þe kne. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1876) VI. 99 (MED) Þat was profitable to noþing but [L. nisi] for to putte of þe sclaundre of the Iewes. a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. iii. xxi. 121 He eeriþ not but by hap. 1448 in S. A. Moore Lett. & Papers J. Shillingford (1871) i. 66 We wolde noght aggre bot to have power to arreste chanons men servants. 1555 W. Waterman tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions i. v. 53 Quaill, and mallard, are not but for the richer sorte. 1609 J. Skene tr. Burrow Lawes in Regiam Majestatem 129 No man sould presume to buy fish..in any other place, bot in the Kings market. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 401 He never us'd any Linnen or other Clothes but once. 1743 J. Morris Serm. ii. 49 Faith and hope have no aptitude to make us happy, but as they incline us to love. 1779 T. Forrest Voy. New Guinea 246 In the streets, women seldom speak but to women. 1843 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters I. 2 No man can be really appreciated but by his equal or superior. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 77 You have no choice but marry Doris now. 1937 W. P. Chrysler & B. Sparkes Life Amer. Workman i. 26 I had no choice but to do any job that he neglected. 1996 R. Waterfield tr. Aristotle Physics viii. iii. 192 The objects which are changing never do anything but change. c. With a noun or adjectival phrase as the complement of be (e.g. The cat is not but a kitten = ‘the cat is a kitten and not anything more’). Cf. sense B. 2a. Now nonstandard.In this use, not but has the sense of ‘only’, and to be not but has the sense of ‘to be nothing other than’. Compare nobbut adv.In quots. eOE¹, eOE² with nouns apparently in the nominative; however, both quots. could alternatively be taken as showing the preposition governing the accusative. ΚΠ eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) i. i. 8 Sume men sæden þæt þær nære buton twegen dælas: Asia & þæt oþer Europe. eOE Bald's Leechbk. (Royal) (1865) ii. xi. 188 Syndrige sceafas geseoð on þrim ceacfullum wæteres þæt þær ne sie butan an ful. c1225 (?c1200) St. Katherine (Bodl.) (1981) l. 101 Þer nis buten a Godd. a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Ihesu..aȝein hwam þe sunne nis boten a schadwe. c1330 (?c1300) Bevis of Hampton (Auch.) l. 53 He nas boute seue winter olde. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 258 Þe ssredinge þet ne ssolde by bote a tokne..of þe ssame of his uader. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 205 Ther þe cat nys bote a kyton. 1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) xxii. 42 He is not but a bourdour, and a deceyuer of ladyes. 1532 J. Larke tr. Bk. Wysdome f. xlvi^v And saythe that theyr vaynglorye is not but a fantastyke vysyon, whiche sheweth outwardely that thyng whiche is not within. c1650 S. More Wise Gospel-preacher 220 'Twere well if this Zeal of theirs for Preaching be not but a blind Zeal, and a bad Zeal, a Zeal rather to preach out themselves. 1696 S. Carter Lex Custumaria ii. 12 Originally he was not but a bare Tenant at Will to the Lord. a1839 J. Galt Demon of Destiny (1840) iii. 28 As if man were not but an atom thing In the dimensionless, the Universe. 1893 Cent. Mag. Sept. 772/2 She ain't but nine this summer. 1922 V. Randolph Pissing in Snow (1986) 98 One time there was a miller married a girl that wasn't but twelve years old. 1973 Black World Jan. 57/1 I can back the truck into it. The wall ain't but so strong. 1988 A. Tyler Breathing Lessons (1989) i. i. 17 Leroy was not but a baby then. 2. In a universal statement, usually with all, every, or any.anything but: see anything pron., n., and adv. Phrases 7. a. With a subjective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Everyone was asleep but he = ‘Everyone else was asleep, but he was not’).In quots. OE, lOE with noun phrase showing nominative case. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) vii. 235 Gewite þis gedwyld fram geleaffullum heortum, þæt æni gewyrd sy, buton se ælmihtiga scyppend. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough interpolation) anno 1116 On þisum ylcan geare bærnde eall þet mynstre of Burh & eallæ þa husas butan se Captelhus & se Slæpperne. c1300 St. Thomas Becket (Laud) l. 2088 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 166 Heo buth alle gultlese bote ich one. a1413 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (Pierpont Morgan) (1882) iii. l. 232 Euery wyght was voyded but þey two. a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. iii. 38 All shall be slayn, Bot oonely we. 1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. ii. 14 Earth hath swallowed all my hopes but she, Shee's the hopefull Lady of my earth. 1645 R. Symonds Diary (1859) 275 Do not persuade a loveful maid there's any heaven but he. 1712 R. Steele Spectator No. 330. ⁋4 All the Boys in the School, but I, have the Classick Authors in usum Delphini, gilt and letter'd on the Back. 1742 W. Shenstone School-mistress xix All, all but He, the Author of it's Shame,..regret it's ruthful Stour. 1829 F. D. Hemans Casabianca in Forest Sanctuary (ed. 2) 243 The boy stood on the burning deck, Whence all but he had fled. 1872 J. H. Newman Discuss. & Arguments 6 I am one among a thousand; all of them wrong but I. 1932 S. O'Faoláin Midsummer Night Madness 238 Everyone was asleep in bed but he. 2009 BOMB Spring 35/2 There was always an element of parody in the work.., though I had to make it so subtle that hardly anyone but I would notice it. b. With a noun or pronoun not showing case, or with case determined by the main clause, or introducing a phrase (e.g. It fascinates everyone but me = ‘It fascinates everyone else, but it doesn't fascinate me’).Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the dative: see note at C. I. ΚΠ OE Panther 16 Se is æthwam freond, duguða estig, butan dracan anum. lOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) anno 1086 Litel rihtwisnesse wæs on þisum lande mid ænige menn buton mid munecan ane. a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Hwi loue ich ein [read eni] þing boten þe one. c1300 All Souls (Harl.) l. 223 in C. D'Evelyn & A. J. Mill S. Eng. Legendary (1956) 471 For vpe hem ful þe roch adoun & hem ouercaste & sloȝ hem alle bote o man. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 763 Sua do we [ete] Of al þe tres bot of an. c1500 (?a1437) Kingis Quair (1939) xciv (MED) In a chiere of estate..all plumyt bot his face, There sawe I sitt the blynd god Cupide. 1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 57 If wee did imitate ought but the imperfections of Beastes. 1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. B4 Wisdome is foolishnes, but in her tongue. View more context for this quotation 1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. li. 107 That the world should honor any other as the Sauiour but him. a1618 W. Raleigh Verses (Mildmay MS) Love all eaten out but in outward showe. 1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 3 And thought that all but Savages were Slaves. 1764 J. Otis Rights Brit. Colonies 80 Custom-house officers universally, and Naval-officers, in all but two or three of the colonies, are..appointed directly from home, or by instruction to the Governor. 1775 H. Walpole Let. 25 Apr. (1937) I. 366 It would kill anybody but me, who am of adamant, to walk out into the dew in winter in my slippers. 1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 84 I can bear any thing but contempt. 1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece V. xxxix. 81 It [an oath] was taken..by all but the Eleans. 1848 J. H. Newman Loss & Gain i. ii. 7 Every one but Jennings did laugh out; but he, au contraire, began to look very black. 1916 W. S. Churchill Let. 24 Jan. in W. S. Churchill & C. S. Churchill Speaking for Themselves (1999) vii. 161 I..discussed the war with the French women who carry on the business in the absence of all but old men & children. 1937 C. Brooks Jrnl. 16 Mar. (1998) 192 My being proposed by anybody but them for membership. 1972 D. Randall in D. Hall Contemp. Amer. Poetry 45 All but his grinning adversary, who, crouched, Danced tenderly around him with a jag-toothed bottle. 2001 Vanity Fair July 136/3 It was a brutal article—it had everyone but the pets in the families at war with each other. c. With an objective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Everyone but me obeys the rules = ‘Everyone else obeys the rules, but I do not’, Everyone knows it but me = ‘Everyone else knows it, but I do not’). ΚΠ 1822 M. Mainwaring Moscow III. iii. 58 That young person you lent your car to..who every one but me believed to be a man. 1861 M. V. Victor Maum Guinea x. 174 Everybody but me was tickled 'bout it. 1896 G. Ade Artie xi. 100 All but us four got planted in front seats and looked on. 1952 J. Thurber Let. 22 Dec. (2002) 580 Everybody but me among us old codgers proudly insists that he and his wife were married just like the kids of today, without a blinking cent or the hope of work. 2009 Jrnl. Business Ethics 84 568/1 The optimal situation is when everyone but me obeys the rules. 3. After an interrogative (chiefly who or what). a. With a subjective pronoun as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Who could be sure but she? = ‘Who could be sure? Only she could be’).In quots. OE, lOE with a noun phrase showing nominative case. ΚΠ OE Cynewulf Crist II 695 Hwæt sindan þa gimmas swa scyne buton god sylfa? lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xix. 283 Hwæt is heora nu to lafe, butan se lytla hlisa and se nama mid feaum stafum awriten? a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2823 Quo made bisne, and quo lockende? Quo but ic, ðat haue al wrogt. a1425 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1869) I. 279 (MED) Who shulde be dampned, but þou? 1568 Newe Comedie Iacob & Esau v. i. sig. F.ij^v Then faith cock on houpe, al is ours, then who but he? 1597 J. Payne Royall Exchange 34 Who but they cowld abyde such hunger and colde,..besydes the lynger of paye, sycknes and mortalitie? 1636 Ramus's Via Regia ad Geometriam Pref. sig. A5^v Who may understand, but he that is skilfull in these Arts? 1701 T. Brett Acct. Church-govt. vi. 96 What is the Bishop, but he that is above all Principality and Power? 1782 W. Cowper John Gilpin 113 Away went Gilpin—who but he? 1865 F. Leslie's Ten Cent Monthly Jan. 416/1 Who but she became so skilled in the mysteries of pickles and pastry, preserves, stuffing and stews? 1940 Prairie Schooner 14 252 And who but I should walk with her In the green solitude? 2001 Shakespeare Q. 52 315 Who but she could be sure? b. With a noun or pronoun not showing case, or with case determined by the main clause, or introducing a phrase (e.g. Who but himself can make the changes? = ‘Who can make the changes? Only he can make them’).Quot. OE² could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I. ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxii. 458 Hwæt is lange lybban buton lange swincan? OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xl. 527 Hwæt is þis deaðlice lif buton weig? c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 69 Hwæt is ðeo deorce niht buton helle dimnes? ?c1335 (a1300) Land of Cokaygne l. 8 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 145 What is þer in paradis Bot grasse and flure and grene ris? c1390 Cato's Distichs (Vernon) l. 508, in F. J. Furnivall Minor Poems Vernon MS (1901) iv. 596 What prou may þi catel do But hele wol with þe dele? c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1119 (MED) Quat may þe cause be called bot for hir clene hwes? c1460 (?c1400) Tale of Beryn l. 2859 (MED) What shull yeur men do But take ensaumpill of ȝewe? a1500 (?a1450) Gesta Romanorum (Harl. 7333) (1879) 123 What dude he but yede, and purveyde him of iij. cautils. 1576 G. Gascoigne Steele Glas sig. D.ij^v What causeth this, but greedy golde to get? 1601 J. Weever Mirror Martyrs in C. M. Ingleby & L. T. Smith Shakespeare's Cent. Prayse (1879) 42 Who but Brutus then was vicious? 1651 J. Howell S.P.Q.V. 124 What are their soldiers but Players, Minstrells and Tumblers, a multitude of unghelt Eunuchs? a1716 R. South 12 Serm. (1717) VI. 35 What is all Virtue but a Moderation of Excesses? 1790 E. Burke Refl. Revol. in France 339 Who but the most desperate adventurers..could at all have thought of [it] . View more context for this quotation 1838 W. Ware Probus I. v. 162 What word but priest stands with all as an abbreviation and epitome of whatever pollutes and defiles the name of man? 1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xxiv. 336 What must she do but immediately turn to the Lieutenant? 1931 Freeman's Jrnl. (Austral.) 16 Apr. 3/3 Who but himself can make the changes necessary? 2008 E. Abeel Conscience Point x. 119 Who but her did Laila have? c. With an objective pronoun treated as prepositional object of but or (in recent use) as notional subject of a predicate inferred from the main clause (e.g. Who but me could recognize her? = ‘Who could recognize her? Only I could do so’.) ΚΠ 1594 tr. A. de Guevara Mysteries Mount Calvary lv. 374 Who but thee..was the dead man buried by the hands of the dead. a1687 C. Cotton Poems (1689) 111 And who but thee in singing does excell? 1757 J. Hanway To Marine Soc. 11 Who but him[1758 he] can alter the courses of the winds? 1761 A. Lally Let. 13 Feb. in Ann. Reg. 1766 (1767) 84/1 Who but me has, or can have, a right to represent to the council of Madras the demands, complaints, or grievances of the French colony? 1863 Yale Lit. Mag. Oct. 7 Who but us can guarantee the future? 1874 Lancet 10 Oct. 526/1 Who but them possess the knowledge? 1919 Overland Monthly Nov. 363/2 And now who but me'll make 'em stay on here to work the mine for Missus Charlie. 2005 Salmagundi No. 146/147 38 Who but me could recognize her? 4. a. After a negative or interrogative clause containing a comparative (esp. more): than. Now rare.than is now usual in such sentences, or (until recently) a construction with but and without a comparative, as in sense B. 2a.Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I. ΚΠ OE Rec. Gifts of Bp. Leofric to Exeter Cathedral (Bodl.) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 228 He ne funde on þam mynstre þa he tofeng boca na ma buton ane capitularie & i forealdodne nihtsang. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 21 Þe eorðliche lauerd ne mei don na mare bote pinen þe..licome to deaðe. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 14265 Þa nas þer na-mare i þan fehte to laue..buten Arður þe king. ?c1335 in W. Heuser Kildare-Gedichte (1904) 111 Forto wep ȝe [emended in ed. to ȝo] nad no mo Bot .IIII. bitter teris of blode. a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 4606 (MED) I took no mor on honde..But to reherce the destruccioun. a1475 J. Shirley Death James (BL Add. 5467) in Miscellanea Scotica (1818) II. 12 There be no mo kynges yn this reume bot ye and I. ?1506 Lytell Geste Robyn Hode (de Worde) sig. A.iv I haue no more but .x.l. sayd the knyght. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. cxi. 134 They..toke their horses, wherof they had no mo but sixe. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1537) sig. Nnij^v What greatter correction shuld I haue of thy wyckednes..but to be certayne that all the lovyng ladis of Rome ar sory of thy life. 1583 A. Golding tr. J. Calvin Serm. on Deuteronomie xlv. 266 To bestow it vpon men which are no better but dung. 1606 G. W. tr. Justinus Hist. 97 a They were no better but a ragged sort of shepheards. 1644 W. Chillingworth Serm. 32 Our whole lives (if sincerely examined) would appeare, I feare, little lesse but a perpetuall lye. 1686 Papist not Misrepr. 21 The difference..is no more but this. 1713 Guardian 25 Aug. 2/2 There needed no more but to advance one Step. a1784 A. Ross Fortunate Shepherd in Sc. Wks. (1938) 187 'Twas love, not marriage, ran into her mind; She sought, she meant no more but to be kind. 1823 Assistant of Educ. Dec. 336 Being in society, we hear something that hurts or offends us.., we add to it, perhaps, no more but an aggravative tone. 1905 A. R. Wallace My Life I. iv. 46 I remember little more but heat and horrid dreams. 1992 A. Thorpe Ulverton ix. 193 The winder then a-rattlin off in that dern carriage till it weren't no more but a plume o' road-dust catched I a bit of a wet eye. b. After a negative or interrogative clause containing other, †otherwise (obsolete), or else.Quots. OE¹, lOE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative or dative: see note at C. I. ΚΠ OE Blickling Homilies 39 Hwylc beren mænde he þonne elles buton heofona rice? OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) xiii. 11 Hwa arist elles of Syon to þæm þæt he sylle Israelum hælo, butan þu, Drihten? lOE tr. R. d'Escures Sermo in Festis Sancte Marie Virginis in R. D.-N. Warner Early Eng. Homilies (1917) 136 Oðre underfoð sumne cume leoflice.., ac þeos nænne oðerne cume bute þone Hælend sylf, na synderlice on oðren herbyrge, bute on hire agene innoðe. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 12392 Þatt iesu crist ne wære. Nohht elless butt all swillc an mann. ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 311 Nochwder [read nochwider] elles ne ga ha bute þider asme sent hire. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 1682 Wile ich speke with non oþer reue, But with þe, þat iustise are. c1390 in C. Horstmann Minor Poems Vernon MS (1892) i. 270 (MED) Þou proude mon, þou art nouȝt elles But of Muk bretful a sekke. 1495 Rolls of Parl.: Henry VII (Electronic ed.) Parl. Oct. 1495 §42. m. 26 Ther to have noon other sustenaunce but brede and water. 1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. OOOiii^v This syttyng signifyeth none other, but the peace of the soule. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xix. 164 What els is man but his minde? 1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. to Rdr. sig. A3^v For none other fault, but for seeking to reduce their Countrey-men to good order. 1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 41 Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain. 1713 Guardian 25 Aug. 2/2 Had no other Fault, but that of being too Short. 1734 J. Hutchinson Covenant in Cherubim 104 How it could have been..otherwise distinguished, but by Names, and Ideas. 1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 88 [They] believe the bellowings of Hecla are nothing else but the cries of the damned. 1826 A. G. Bain Jrnls. (1949) 31 The natives..called me by no other name but Moorimo (god). 1883 J. Landon School Managem. iii. v. 356 Some masterful spirit who would brave anything else but a sound flogging. 1936 J. Steinbeck In Dubious Battle 108 Don't hit 'im up for anything else but breakfast. 1958 J. W. Day Lady Houston ix. 127 No other race of people but the Sarkese speak it [sc. ‘Norman-French’] today. 2011 Antioch Rev. 69 902 Who else but someone who is young and needs a job would put up with being so stranded? †c. After unlike. Obsolete. rare. ΚΠ 1652 E. Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum Prol. 7 Not unlike, but the Wall-nut-Tree which..grew in Glastenbury-Church-yard. a1654 J. Richardson Choice Observ. & Explan. Old Test. (1655) 82 And not unlike but Davids enquiring of the Lord. 5. With part of the predicate of the main clause unexpressed. a. With the object or complement of the main verb unexpressed: any but, anything else than, other than, otherwise than. Frequently after ever, never. Now regional or nonstandard.Quot. OE could alternatively be interpreted as showing the preposition governing the accusative: see note at C. I. ΚΠ OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) xiv. 17 Þa andswarodun hig, we nabbað her butun fif hlafas & twegen fixas. c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. C) l. 14 Nafst þu bute [wei]lawei þet þu weole heuedest. c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 1290 Ne schaltu bute schame iwinne. c1330 (?c1300) Reinbrun (Auch.) in J. Zupitza Guy of Warwick (1891) 637 He nis boute a losenger. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3302 (MED) Hit nys potte a litel þinge. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. xviii. 20 Fewe had slepte but lytle, and yet they had sore traualed the daye before. 1596 Raigne of Edward III sig. G2^v Neuer to be but Edwards faithful friend. View more context for this quotation a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 119 I should sinne To thinke but Noblie of my Grand-mother. View more context for this quotation 1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 21 It cannot be but a dishonour and derogation to the author. 1722 W. Cheselden Anat. Humane Body (ed. 2) i. i. 2 I have never seen but one instance of a Bone in an adult Body unossified. 1788 R. Burns in J. Johnson Scots Musical Museum II. 183 How can I be but eerie! 1832 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 32 166 He never took but one voyage. 1864 R. Paul Let. 20 Jan. in B. Bell Mem. R. Paul (1872) xviii. 273 You say you are tied hand and foot... You will never be but that in London. 1919 Sunset Dec. 30/3 Ain't but two years 'tween me an' the great divide. 1980 A. Beattie Falling in Place (1981) x. 119 Don't tip him but five percent. 2002 Western Mail (Cardiff) (Nexis) 27 Apr. 23 I never saw but one. b. After a negative or interrogative clause with a modal verb (esp. cannot, could not, dare not, etc., and the interrogative who could, etc.), with the main verb unexpressed. Now somewhat rare.one cannot choose but: see choose v. 5b. [Compare classical Latin non possum non.] ΚΠ OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 1st Ser. (Royal) (1997) xxxi. 450 Hwæt wylle we..buton herian urne drihten & eadmodlice biddan þæt he us..to þam ecum gefean gelæde? a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 3380 He can not but sigh, sobbe, and wepe. ?1510 T. More in tr. G. F. Pico della Mirandola Lyfe I. Picus Ep. Ded. sig. A^v Your self is such one as for your vertue & feruent zele to god can not but ioyously receiue any thing that meanely sownith. 1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) Celebr. Holye Communion f. lxxxviii The frailtie of man without thee, cannot but fall. 1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 1^v I cannot but commend his wisedom. 1619 W. Sclater Expos. 1 Thess. (1638) 166 What Atheist dares but yield attention? 1628 Bp. Davenant Serm. 35 If hee bid it stand still..it dares not but stand. 1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 2 It could not but much redound to the lustre of your milde and equall Government. 1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy Ded. sig. A1^v It can't but be obvious to them. 1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II I. ii. 18 Such extensive power, and..resources could not but appear extremely formidable. 1812 T. Jefferson Writings (1830) IV. 180 I cannot but be gratified by the assurance. 1832 H. Martineau For Each & All ii. 23 He could not but try. 1866 J. R. Lowell Poet. Wks. 84 We can't but regret (seek excuse where we may) That so much of a man has been peddled away. 1934 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Grey Granite ii. 102 She'd far set a-lowe and burned up Colquohoun in her time, you wouldn't but wonder. 1936 C. S. Lewis Allegory of Love iii. 124 I cannot but feel that this ogre is a very odd description of womanly modesty. 2011 Herald (Glasgow) (Nexis) 13 Dec. (Features section) 12 Mr Cameron's empty chair policy in the EU cannot but strengthen the Nationalist case for Scotland having its own representation at the top table of Europe. 6. After last and next, chiefly in last but one, next but one; occasionally also after first (now rare).next door but one: see next door n. 2, next door adv. 3. ΚΠ ?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 19 Þe leste uers buten an of benedicite omnia. c1540 T. Botelar Reg. in Trans. Shropshire Archæol. & Nat. Hist. Soc. (1883) 6 130 The last day but one of Feb. being Gudtyde Sonday. 1576 W. Lambarde Perambulation of Kent 330 Boniface the Archebishop (next but one in succession after Richard, of whome we spake before). 1579 T. North tr. Plutarch Liues 861 The first time that euer the two kings were of one house but then. 1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 46 Q. What meane you by that, To increase flat? A. To haue the last syllable, but one, pressed down flatte in pronouncing. 1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words at Rogation The next week but one before Whitsunday. 1710 J. Swift Jrnl. to Stella 10 Nov. (2013) 62 I forgot to leave a gap in the last line but one for the seal. 1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Antepenultimate is that before the Penultimate, or the last but two. 1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 320 The Sunday next but one before Easter. 1837 Eng.-Lat. Lexicon at First The first but one, a primo proximus. 1859 Musical Times & Singing Class Circular 9 5/1 The re for the Alto voice in the last bar but three should be sol. 1917 F. Klickmann Between Larch-woods & Weir ii. 21 The vermilion satin cushion.., that had lain in a trunk in the attic since the last Sale of Work but two. 1947 Jrnl. Econ. Hist. 7 76 Some twenty years after inauguration of the first but one corporation in the country. 1948 L. A. G. Strong Trevannion xiii. 211 The next evening but one after the fight. 2004 Independent 29 July 37/4 One [sc. a drug] that clearly impressed my son's last but one NHS consultant. II. In a complex sentence, introducing a subordinate clause. 7. a. Except (that), save (that).In later use chiefly in clauses of the type nothing would satisfy him but (that)——. (a) In but that. Now rare. ΚΠ OE Genesis A (1931) 1403 Se egorhere eorðan tuddor eall acwealde, buton þæt earce bord heold heofona frea. OE West Saxon Gospels: Matt. (Corpus Cambr.) v. 13 Þæt sealt..ne mæg syððan to nahte buton þæt hit sy utaworpen. c1175 ( Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 202 Ðenne nis us nan þing bætere ne sælre buton þæt we lufien ure Drihten mid alle mode. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 12233 Doþ itt te nan oþerr god. But an þatt tatt tu gowesst. Þær onne. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15567 He wolde al þis kine-lond setten an heore hond. bute [c1300 Otho bote] þat he icleoped weore king. a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1871) III. 281 I can nouȝt but þat I can nouȝt. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Fvii^v Wherby I can not see what good they haue doone: but that men may more sickerlye be euell. 1624 J. Ussher Answer to Challenge by Iesuite 144 The Minister..signifieth nothing else by those words, but that hee..conferreth the sacrament of reconciliation or absolution. 1752 Adventurer No. 12. ⁋11 A formal prig, of whom he knew nothing but that he went every morning and evening to prayers. 1896 Argosy Mar. 591/2 Nothing would satisfy him but that this team should be hitched up to a handsome three seated drag. 1931 I. Compton-Burnett Men & Wives xii. 157 We heard that you were clothed and in your right mind, Lady Haslam, but nothing would do for Mother but that I should come to inquire. (b) With omission of that. Now Scottish and Irish English. ΚΠ OE Coronation of Edgar (Parker) 13 Ða agangen wæs tyn hund wintra geteled rimes fram gebyrdtide bremes cyninges.., buton ðær to lafe þa agan [read þa get] wæs wintergeteles..seofon and twentig. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3798 Nes þer nan oðer ræd buten Nennius iwarð dæð [emended in ed. to dæd]. c1275 (?c1250) Owl & Nightingale (Calig.) (1935) l. 558 Is in þe eni oþer note Bute þu hauest schille þrote. c1300 (c1250) Floris & Blauncheflur (Cambr.) (1966) l. 52 Þu art hire ilich of alle þinge..Bute þu ert a man and heo a maide. a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) l. 5762 (MED) Y take þe here, And me to selle..Y ne recche vn-to whom, But onlych he haue þe crystendom. 1713 Guardian 28 Aug. 2/1 Nothing would satisfie Sir George..but he must go into the Den. 1794 A. Thomas Newfoundland Jrnl. (1968) viii. 103 Nothing would serve me but I must have a Red Waistcoate, trimmed with Gold. 1820 H. Matthews Diary of Invalid 174 Nothing would please him but I must try on his mitres. 1879 Scribner's Monthly Feb. 514/2 Naught would do him but he must have his try at it. 1933 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Cloud Howe i. 55 And nothing could content him but up she must go, leaving Melvin below to glower after the gowks. 1956 M. McLaverty in Dublin Mag. July 32 Nothing would do him but open up the gate again and go back for that old bit of rope. 1995 E. Toman Dancing in Limbo 251 Now nothing would do him but they'd set out for Dublin on their own. b. Introducing a consideration or reason to the contrary: except for the fact that, were it not that. Chiefly in but that.Formerly that was occasionally omitted. ΚΠ eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) vi. xiv. 141 He wæs swiþe yfel monn ealra þeawa, buton þæt he wæs cene, & oft feaht anwig. c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure l. 1438 (MED) Nere for Ioye she swounyd swythe, But as that he her helde vpRyght. ?a1475 Ludus Coventriae (1922) 38 (MED) Myn handwerk to sle sore grevyth me but þat here synne here deth doth brewe. a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. clvi. f. lxxxiiii^v In hym was no thynge to be dyscommendyd, but that he helde his Doughter so longe vnmaryed. 1559 P. Morwyng tr. C. Gesner Treasure of Euonymus 25 Wemen comend it [sc. Alsine] greatly, and som say they haue tried it them selues... But that when I tasted it, had like to haue made me vomit. a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) v. vi. 41 And but she spoke it dying, I would not Beleeue her lips. View more context for this quotation 1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. xlviii. sig. H12 Hee would bee wholy a Christian, but that he is something of an Atheist. 1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 78 We had not staid here long, but the Wind expected proved a brisque South-wind. 1726 N. Amhurst Terræ-filius (ed. 2) xiv. 71 I need not have put the case so far, but that I was willing to shew, etc. 1796 R. Southey Joan of Arc i. 359 I too should be content to dwell in peace..But that my country calls. 1850 H. Taylor Sicilian Summer ii. iii Each by the other would have done the like But that they lack'd the courage. 1897 ‘O. Rhoscomyl’ For White Rose Arno (U.K. ed.) 43 I should have come up earlier now, but that I was weighing up his servant. 1992 J. Purdy Out with Stars 24 He would have taken him in his arms at that moment but that he was sure Hugh would have rebuffed him. 8. Introducing a condition. †a. If..not, unless, except. Obsolete. ΚΠ eOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Otho) (2009) I. xxxii. 534 Þu sægst eac þæt nan þing ne geweorðe bute hit God wille oððe geðafie. OE King Ælfred tr. Psalms (Paris) (2001) vii. 12 Bute ge to him [sc. to the Lord] gecyrren, se deofol cwecð his sweord to eow. c1175 ( Ælfric Homily (Bodl. 343) in S. Irvine Old Eng. Homilies (1993) 66 Buton he wyrde asend, nere ure nan alysed fram synnum. ?a1200 (?OE) Peri Didaxeon (1896) 33 Ealle he byþ ȝeswenced and, bute he þe hraþar ȝehæled beo, hyt cum hym to mycele yfele. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 147 Ne mei na Mon me folȝen, bute he forlete al. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3616 Ðat folc on him ne migte sen, But a veil wore hem bi-twen. a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Matt. v. 20 That but [E.V. c1384 Douce 369(2) but ȝif] ȝour riȝtfulnesse be more plenteuouse than of scribis..ȝe schulen not entre into the kyngdom of heuenes. ?c1450 T. Gnatyshale in Paston Lett. & Papers (2004) II. 338 But I maye have helpe of my mayster and of yow I am but lost. 1531 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student (new ed.) xli. f. cv^v No man may take that man but he haue auctoryty from the Sheryffe. a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) v. vi. sig. I.j. This man is angry but he haue his [gaines] by and by. b. Following various emphatic expressions. (a) With a following emphatic assertion preceded by an imprecation against oneself: if..not (e.g. Beshrew me, but I shall go = ‘may evil befall me if I do not go’). Now archaic and rare. ΚΠ c1450 Alphabet of Tales (1904) I. 110 Als witterlie as evur he was in fonte-stone, bod it was as he sayde. ?1589 T. Nashe Almond for Parrat f. 16^v Beshrewe mee but those Church-liuings would come well to decayed courtiers. 1600 W. Shakespeare Merchant of Venice ii. vi. 52 Beshrow me but I loue her hartilie. View more context for this quotation 1691 J. Wilson Belphegor i. iii Beshrew me, but I should have broken my heart. 1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires ii. i. 167 Let me die but your Advice were best. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. vii. 59 May this glass suffocate me but a fine girl is worth all the priestcraft in the nation. 1787 I. Bickerstaffe Sultan ii. i. 15 Let me die but I believe it is their dinner. 1884 Harper's Mag. May 953/2 Beshrew me, but the day has grown dark since he left. 1932 T. E. Lawrence tr. Homer Odyssey (new ed.) xvii. 238 Beshrew me, but the dog talks as if he would bewitch us. †(b) After it is marvel, it is ten to one, and similar expressions. Obsolete.it is odds but: see odds n. 6a. ΚΠ 1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 3^v If a kyng or a prynce byleue the fayre wordes and flateryngis of hys ennemyes..it is meruaylle but the sayd kyng or prynce therby sodeynly take harme. 1534 N. Udall Floures for Latine Spekynge gathered oute of Terence f. 16^v Mirum ni domi est. It is meruaylle but he is at home. 1583 W. Fulke Def. Transl. Script. (1843) 124 It is marvel but you will say, a dead body is not altogether void of strength. a1623 W. Pemble Vindiciæ Gratiæ (1627) 135 Tis wonder but these men will deny all other Habits too. 1649 Man in Moon No. 29. 233 A hundred to one but it was his Worships houshold sinner. 1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim viii. 35 It is a thousand to one but they will find the means. 1710 S. Palmer Moral Ess. Prov. 334 'Tis a million to one but they wish it had never been done. 1713 R. Steele in Guardian 27 Mar. 1/1 'Tis odds but you lose. ?1780 R. King New Cheats of London Exposed 28 Ten to one but you are had. 1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 261 It is odds but he miscarries in his suit. 1864 C. M. Yonge Trial I. xii. 238 Ten to one but the police have got them. 1872 Aldine 5 176/2 But if you call at a farm house for a cup of milk, it is ten to one but you are told that they have none to spare. 1912 J. Galsworthy in Metropolitan Feb. 15/3 You infernal idiot! Ten to one but you've broken my connection, turning up the lights like that. †(c) With phrases expressing a warning or threat (e.g. I'd burn the house down but I'd find it = ‘even though I should have to burn the house down, I'd find it’). Obsolete.it shall go hard but: see hard adv. Phrases 1. ΚΠ a1533 Ld. Berners tr. Arthur of Brytayn (?1560) xxxiii. sig. Fv I wyll abyde here this seuen yere but I will wynne it. 1575 G. Gascoigne Glasse of Gouernem. sig. E.ii Surely it shall go hard but I will haue a sling at this damsell. 1643 T. Warmstry Answer Observ. W. Bridges conc. Present Warre 21 Hee will worke wonders but he will doe it. 1678 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 174 It shall go hard but they will throw up his heels. 1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 146 They would go quite up to the Andes, but they would find them. 1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions xii. 301 If it was made of something the Fire wou'd not destroy,..I'd burn the House down but I'd find it. 1793 R. Burns Scots, wha Hae in Poems & Songs (1968) II. 708 We will drain our dearest veins, But they shall be free! 1839 New Monthly Mag. 56 513 It shall go hard but we shall damage the theory. 9. After various verbs in negative or interrogative constructions, reversing the effect of the negative or interrogative so as to affirm more emphatically the dependent clause (e.g. I don't know but she's got notions into her head = ‘I think it likely that she's got notions into her head’). Frequently in but that. a. (a) After verbs and verbal phrases expressing mental affirmation, as believe, be sure, conceive, conclude, persuade, say, see, think, wit, and (esp.) know. Now rare (chiefly regional). ΚΠ OE Ælfric Lives of Saints (Julius) (1881) I. 456 Se bisceop wæs bysig mid þam cynincge, and nyste butan hi sungon þone lofsang forð on. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4146 & þu hit nult ileuen beoten hit læssingge beo, ich hit wulle trousien þurh minne tir-fulne godd. a1400 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) II. 56 Peraventure ȝee seyen that no man schal make ȝou to byleven but that it is good to pleyen the passion of Crist. ?1506 Thystorye vii. Wyse Maysters Rome (new ed.) sig. Liii Tho became þ^e sheryf so colde þ^t he wyst not but to dye for colde. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. Ee.v^v Thinke not but it dooeth brenne my heart. 1581 T. Styward Pathwaie to Martiall Discipline i. 28 He maie not say but that hee was forewarned. 1656 S. Hunton Golden Law 89 I see not but that..one or both are undone. 1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. ix. 33 Who knows but that Light and Cold may have kindness one for the other. 1741 S. Richardson Pamela 206 I could not persuade myself..but that I should do better for her than my Mother had wished me to do. 1746 P. Francis tr. Horace Art of Poetry in P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Epistles 313 Sirs, you do not know But he fell in on purpose. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 134 Who knows but we might see a lord holding the bowl to a minister. 1847 Blackwood's Mag. 61 220 How could he tell but that Mildred might do the same? 1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 5 Sept. 3/4 I am not sure but that there is a state of facts by which..the Constitution would be in some danger. 1887 H. Caine Son of Hagar i. Prol. I'll not say but other folks look a mort madder nor ever I looked. 1915 G. A. Cleveland Maine 164 Oh, I didn't know but you might be one o' them ere Boston sport fishermen, them's what they were. 1977 M. Treacy in D. Marcus State of Art 369 We sent you a postcard; I don't know but that we sent you two and that's all the heed you put in it. 2011 20th-cent. Lit. 57 389 Who knows but that what arises from the rubble might not be better than what we have now? (b) After deny. Now rare.In this use, but has the effect of affirming the dependent clause without cancelling the preceding negative. ΚΠ c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 287 It is not to be denied but that thei [sc. the clergy] hadden veri cyuyl lordschip vpon the xlviij. citees receyued of hem in her firste endewyng. c1450 C. d'Orleans Poems (1941) 179 What ye me geve y may it not denye But hit agre as for myn aventure. 1547 Certain Serm. or Homilies Fruitf. Exhort. ii, in J. Griffiths Two Bks. Homilies (1859) i. 11 Yet no man can deny, but this is the chiefe. 1575 G. Gascoigne Certayne Notes Instr. in Posies sig. T.ij^v I will not denie but this may seeme a preposterous ordre. 1610 T. Bell Catholique Triumph v. 174 I will not deny but the Minister hath some skill in botching togeather of old endes of Diuinitie. 1665 S. Patrick Parable of Pilgrim viii. 33 I will not deny but that it is a difficult thing. a1719 Def. Nat. & Revealed Relig. (1739) I. 369 Those that hold a Soul or Life in Matter..cannot deny but this power is invisible. 1790 W. Paley Horæ Paulinæ i. 5 I cannot deny but that it would be easy. 1891 Jrnl. Amer. Geogr. Soc. N.Y. 23 615 We cannot deny but that, originating in this manner, subsequent generations may have acquired a fondness for these cañon fastnesses. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song 33 Nor could a body deny but that Long Rob's boar was one of the best in the Mearns. b. After verbs and verbal phrases expressing dubiety, as doubt, despair, scruple. Cf. sense C. 9d. [Compare classical Latin non dubito quin ‘I don't doubt that’.] ΚΠ a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 12322 She..douted nouȝt But goddes wille wolde be wrouȝt. 1471 in Archaeologia Cantiana (1877) 11 361 (MED) The which if ye soe doo, We doubte not but it shall not onely be vnto you grete honoure and Worship but alsoe to your prevaile. 1521 W. Warham Let. 8 Mar. in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. I. 239 I doubt not but it is to your good Grace right pensiful hearing. 1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. D.iv^v I dout not but there were blanchers in the olde time. 1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel i. 23 I make no question, but they do farre excell them. 1656 Disc. Auxiliary Beauty 73 Who..scruples, but that they may lawfully be pluckt out? a1661 T. Fuller Triana (1867) iii Sabina's friends despair not but..to mould him. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 482 They questioned not but to strike terror into the Romans. 1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind iii, in Wks. (1863) I. 116/2 Nor is it to be doubted, but smells..would appear to have as great variety. 1832 T. Carlyle in Fraser's Mag. 5 399 Who doubted but the catastrophe was over? 1857 D. Livingstone Missionary Trav. S. Afr. i. 19 We..have no doubt but it will yet spring up. 1870 J. Ruskin Lect. Art (1875) 87 I do not doubt but that you are surprised. 1929 Science 1 Mar. 253/2 There is no doubt but that the reconstituted adult organ would luminesce even if the larval organs had been removed. 1932 R. Macaulay Shadow Flies i. xviii. 159 No question but the witch'll walk, starkling all the countryside. 2009 P. Glennie & N. Thrift Shaping Day ii. 56 There is no question but that the striking of the clock would have been familiar to Roger Martin. c. After verbs and phrases expressing prevention. †(a) After God forbid, and similar expressions. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. iv. l. 149 Lord it me for-bede Bote ich be holiche [read holly] at þyn heste. c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 910 God forbede but a woman can Ben as trewe & louynge as a man. 1536 J. Gwynneth Confut. Fyrst Parte Frythes Boke sig. h.iiii Treason abydyng in his olde odibylyte styll (as god forbede but it shold i ded). 1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 iv. iii. 40 And God defend but still I should stand so. View more context for this quotation 1659 H. Newcome Sinners Hope 119 The Lord forbid but that I should pray for you. 1821 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1971) V. 139 God forbid but that by hook or crook you shall be enabled to make both ends meet, without incurring any Cambridge Debt. 1863 J. Ruskin Let. Mar. in Jrnl. Eng. & Germanic Philol. 70 325 If you believe the Resurrection (and God forbid but that you still may—) hold to that. †(b) After hinder, prevent, restrain, etc. (now followed by from with the gerund, or the gerund alone). Also after fail, forbear, hold, etc. (now followed by an infinitive or gerund with or without from). Often with infinitive as verb of the dependent clause. Obsolete.to miss but: see miss v.¹ 5b. ΚΠ 1510 A. Chertsey tr. Floure Commaundementes of God (de Worde) i. xxiv. f. lvi^v/1 Yf I may not auoyde but that I muste go thorowe them. 1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique 81 b If you loke in the boke..you shal not faile but find them. 1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China 23 He cannot let but haue in his shop men that must worke of his occupation. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxv. 253 Our maker may not be in all cases restrayned, but that he may..manifest his arte. 1610 G. Markham Maister-peece ii. clxxii. 482 You shall not faile but..you shall spet in his mouth. 1626 G. Hakewill Comparison 29 He could not hold but let fall teares at the sight thereof. 1642 tr. J. Perkins Profitable Bk. ii. §156. 69 These words..shall not bind him but that hee may enter. 1653 Cloria & Narcissus 294 Cloria..could not forbeare but plainly to tell him her thoughts. 1656 Disc. Auxiliary Beauty 70 What..hinders..but that we may study to adorn our lookes? 1713 J. Addison Cato iii. vii. 18 What hinders then, but that thou find her out? 1737 W. Whiston tr. Josephus Antiq. Jews x. x, in tr. Josephus Genuine Wks. 317 It could not be avoided but their..colours must be changed. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Gardener's Daughter in Poems (new ed.) II. 27 You cannot fail but work in hues to dim The Titianic Flora. 1893 B. Carman Low Tide on Grand Pré 57 What's to hinder but I follow This my gypsy guide afar, When the bugle rouses slumber? †(c) After I see not or I see no cause. Obsolete. ΚΠ a1530 T. Lupset Compend. Treat. Dyenge Well (1534) sig. C.vi^v I see not but the strength of mannes minde fully fastened in fayth, may victoriousely ouer come all this feare. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxi. 208 I see not but the rest..may be borne with. 1600 M. Sutcliffe Briefe Replie to Libel ix. 236 I see no cause..but that the Spaniardes should rather feare vs. 1700 J. England Man's Sinfulness & Misery 428 I see not, but that the Doctrine of pardon, and faith in order to it, may be defended by this Doctrine of Christ's being a legal Representative. 1754 S. Emlyn Queries E. C's case (single sheet) I see not but that they may take Refreshment, and retire to Rest in a Place provided for them. 1820 J. Penrose Inq. Human Motives i. xii. 128 I see not but that it is a true perfection to preserve..the same perfect and unviolated equanimity. †(d) After there wanted but little. Obsolete. ΚΠ 1584 E. Paget tr. J. Calvin Harmonie vpon Three Euangelists 646 For..it wanted but little, but that in one day there should haue beene a signe giuen, to slaye them euerye where. 1658 tr. J. Ussher Ann. World 624 There wanted but little, but that the people had killed the Judges. 1727 F. Altieri Dizionario Inglese & Italiano at But There wanted but little but he had struck him, poco mancò che non lo bastanasse. (e) After cannot help (see help v. 11b). ΚΠ 1756 E. Haywood Wife iv. 29 I cannot help but heartily pitying the husbands of those butterfly wives who are every day flaunting in the Mall. 1777 in E. B. O'Callaghan Documentary Hist. State of N.-Y. (1851) IV. 950 We Cant help but recomend him to the state as worthy to receive such releaif as they think a faithful person ought to have. 1852 Masonic Rev. Feb. 160 Our friends..should call and see his stock and ask the prices—they cant help but be suited. a1867 M. Faraday Let. in P. Day Philosopher's Tree (1999) xiii. 198 I cannot help but feel drawn towards them by their affinity to us. 1923 N. Coward Shake your Feet in B. Day N. Coward: Compl. Lyrics (1998) 59/2 Everybody, everybody, listen to me, I can not help but enthuse. 1961 S.-Y. Ch'ên Chinese Lit. i. 12 This preponderant monosyllabism of archaic Chinese could not help but produce an embarrassing result—the large numbers of homonyms. 2014 Radio Times 20 Sept. (South/West ed.) 134/1 You can't help but warm to [Professor Brian] Cox as he summarises very complicated ideas in simple, accessible language. d. After fear and †dread. Cf. sense C. 9b. Now rare. ΚΠ ?1504 M. Beaufort tr. Thomas à Kempis Ful Treat. Imytacyon Cryste (Pynson) iv. x. sig. biv And thanne drede nat but god wyll pardon the. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxi. 212 Fere not but ye shalbe well payed. 1543 B. Traheron tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. Ep. Ded. sig. ✠ii^v/2 Yet I feare not, but that this booke, beyng so necessary for the commune weale, shall be vnto youe ryght pleasaunt. 1641 T. Edwards Reasons against Independant Govt. Congregations 20 I doe not feare but that these few Souldiers will be able to returne againe. 1660 R. Southwell Let. 20 Feb. in H. Oldenburg Corr. (1965) I. 355 I feare not but he will most effectually Compasse his designe. 1692 C. Gildon Post-boy rob'd of his Mail I. cxvi. 337 I could not fear but that all your Imployments would meet with good fortune. 1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 139 I would engage my Life to bring them to the Island of St. John..and did not fear but we should be much better off than their Consorts. ?1797 T. Shaw Let. to Alexander Mather 21 If any one can swallow this mountain, we need not fear but he will drink up the largest river in Europe to rinse it down. 1820 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 6 684 I do not fear but that my grandfather will recover. 1879 M. Oliphant Within Precincts II. xvii. 15 Never fear but I'll go. 1918 Virginia Law Reg. 4 302 We do not fear but that our courts will measure up to their high duty as patriots and judges of the law. 1972 J. B. Keane in Lett. (1996) 75 Have no fear but he planted the bulbs of doubt in the collective crania of The Lochnanaanites. 10. After negative and questioning constructions. a. (With unexpressed non-referential it and copula) not but (that): (affirming the statement in the dependent clause) it is not but that, (sometimes also) it is not to say but that. Cf. C. 9a(a). Now chiefly regional. ΚΠ c1300 St. James Great (Laud) l. 316 in C. Horstmann Early S.-Eng. Legendary (1887) 43 Þene traitur..wel sone out huy souȝten And an-henguen him wel heiȝe a-non, and nouȝt bote he wuyrþe were. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Thess. iii. B Not but that we had auctorite, but to geue oure selues for an ensample vnto you to folowe vs. 1641 R. Greville Disc. Nature Episcopacie ii. i. 67 Not but that they were most worthy men. 1670 A. Marvell Let. 14 Apr. in Poems & Lett. (1971) II. 317 Not but the other Cabal too have seemingly sometimes their Turn. 1717 A. Pope Disc. Pastoral Poetry in Wks. 8 Not but he [sc. Spenser] may be thought imperfect on some few points. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. i. 4 Not but that we sometimes had those little rubs [etc.]. 1768 I. Bickerstaffe Lionel & Clarissa i. iv. 10 Not but your father has good qualities. 1806 Crit. Rev. 7 477 Not but that imitation has always a bad effort on literature. 1815 Zeluca III. 82 Not but I'd rather set out; for it's quite unfair to sing a foolish thing that nobody likes, when I could do better. 1840 J. G. MacVicar Catholic Spirit True Relig. i. 34 Not but that I should be very happy to think of these pages being perused by any members of that communion. 1932 A. Bell Cherry Tree v. 44 Not but that I missed..the level brown bank of the field harrowed and drilled on the eve of spring. 1968 E. McCabe King of Castle (1978) 54 They'll burn quicker for their bad sermons, not but Peter Hannigan's a decent wee man. b. Introducing an inevitable accompanying circumstance or result: so that..not. Formerly sometimes in but that. Now rare.Now generally expressed by without and gerund (e.g. you cannot look but you will see it = ‘you cannot look without seeing it’).it never rains but it pours: rain v. Phrases 2. ΚΠ a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. l. 473 (MED) Sche schal noght with hir litel too Misteppe, bot he se it al. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 9654 He may not scape where he go But him assaileþ euer his fo. ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 24 No straungere cometh before him but þat he maketh him sum promys. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. M.iv^v One unhappynes chaunceth not, but an nother foloweth. a1556 N. Udall Ralph Roister Doister (?1566) i. ii. sig. B.j^v Ye passe not by, but they laugh till they be werie. 1644 P. Heylyn Stumbling-block in Hist. & Misc. Tracts 653 The Magistrate cannot be resisted, but that God is resisted, also. 1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 7 For Rhetorick, he could not ope His mouth, but out there flew a Trope. 1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica ii. i. 123 You cannot dip into a Diary but you will find it. 1758 S. Johnson Idler 1 July 97 Scarce any couple comes together, but the nuptials are declared in the News Papers with encomiums on each party. 1796 E. Inchbald Nature & Art II. xxxiii. 92 Nor did she ever weep, but he wept too. 1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi III. x. vi. 300 He had never confided, but he had been betrayed. 1889 F. Thompson in Merry Eng. Sept. 306 For there is nothing lives but something dies, And there is nothing dies but something lives. 1932 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Sunset Song i. 44 You could go never a road but farmer billies were leaning over the gates, glowering at the weather. †c. After expressions of likelihood. Also in but that. (a) After it cannot be, it is impossible, it is not possible, is it possible?: except that, other than that. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §265 It is impossible but he be tempted som tyme. c1440 S. Scrope tr. C. de Pisan Epist. of Othea (St. John's Cambr.) (1970) 17 (MED) Merci hath many praieres, and it is impossible but that many preiers most nedis be exhauncid. 1539 Bible (Great) Luke xvii. 1 It can not be but offences wyl come [ Wyclif, It is impossible that sclaundris come not; 1526 Tindale, It can not be avoyded but that offences will come; 1582 Rhem., It is impossible that scandale should not come; 1611 Bible, It is impossible but that offences will come]. 1557 T. North tr. A. de Guevara Diall Princes (1582) 185 It cannot be but that the writings of such a woman..were very lively. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. x. 148 How is it possible but that we should be discontent. 1645 Mercurius Britanicus No. 100. 889 Its impossible but the University should have been able to afford a single sheet in all this time. 1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico viii. 7 She said it was not possible but she must be in great anxiety. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 239 It cannot be But that success attends him; if mishap, Ere this he had return'd. 1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 170 It was impossible but he should see it. 1792 M. Wollstonecraft Vindic. Rights Woman Ded. p. v I think it scarcely possible, but that some of the enlarged minds..will coincide with me. 1801 G. Culley Let. 9 Nov. in M. Culley & G. Culley Farming Lett. (2006) 201 It is impossible but John Welch must have turnips to serve more stock than he has at present, or his turnips are worse than I suppose them. 1849 M. Faraday Diary 25 Aug. in P. Day Philosopher's Tree (1999) viii. 126 It seems hardly possible but that there must be some extraordinary results to come out in relation to celestial mechanics. 1880 T. A. Spalding Elizabethan Demonol. 41 It can hardly be but that the ‘thousand noses’ are intended as a satirical hit. (b) After it is not impossible, not improbable, not unlikely, etc.: that. Cf. C. 9b. Obsolete.In this use, but has the effect of affirming the dependent clause without cancelling the preceding negative. ΚΠ ?1542 R. Taverner On Saynt Andrewes Day Gospels f. xxxix It is not impossible but the deuil may by art Magik and sorcery worke many wonders and maystres. 1658 G. Starkey Natures Explic. Ep. to Rdr. sig. a8^v 'Tis no unlikely but some captious Antagonist may censure my Aphorisms, as ostentatory. 1665 J. Wilson Projectors iii 'Tis not impossible but I may make my party good. 1680 Vindic. Conforming Clergy (ed. 2) 38 It is not unlikely but somebody may know. 1684 N. S. tr. R. Simon Crit. Enq. Editions Bible xviii. 184 It is not improbable but that Origen..marked the various reading. 1711 Medley No. 33 It is not impossible, but such a day as this may come, etc. 1766 Evening Post 15 May It is not improbable but Prince Heraclius wants it [sc. the city] restored to himself. 1780 M. Madan Thelyphthora I. 3 It is not impossible but that the light of that great reformer had remained hidden under the bushel of monkery. 1813 Jrnl. Nat. Philos. July 186 It is not improbable but future observations will add Pliny's Well to the class of irregular reciprocators. d. Following an adjective or adverb modified by not so: that..not (e.g. he was not so brave but (that) he hesitated = ‘he was not so brave that he did not hesitate’). Frequently in but that. Cf. so adv. and conj. 24d. Now rare. ΚΠ ?a1425 (c1400) Mandeville's Trav. (Titus C.xvi) (1919) 32 (MED) Þat feld is not so wel closed but þat men may entren at here owne list. 1477 W. Caxton tr. R. Le Fèvre Hist. Jason (1913) 100 I coude not so fast flee, but that the terrible dragon cast vpon me a gobet of the moste detestable infeccion that euer was. a1533 Ld. Berners tr. A. de Guevara Golden Bk. M. Aurelius (1546) sig. C.vj^v There is nothyng that is so loste but that there is hope of recoveryng. 1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 33 There was neuer fort so strong, but it might be battered. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. iv. i. iii. 755 No Garden so well tilled, but some noxious weedes growe vp in it. 1648 Bp. J. Hall Select Thoughts 148 No Indian is so savage, but that he knows the use of his Tobacco and Contra-yerva. 1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 203. ¶6 It will be impossible..to make them so fast, but a Cat..will find a way through them. 1814 H. F. Cary tr. Dante Vision I. xxv. 111 Yet 'scap'd they not so covertly, but well I mark'd Sciancato. 1883 E. Gosse 17th Cent. Stud. 10 Lodge was not so vagrant a person but that he had married by this time. 1905 Baroness Orczy Scarlet Pimpernel xvi The present is not so glorious but that I should not wish to dwell a little in the past. 1939 G. L. S. Shackle in Oxf. Econ. Papers OS-2 135 Human nature is not so widely various but that..the resultant of these individual tastes in the matter of spending or not-spending will be much the same. e. Introducing a clause indicating some restriction on the statement about the subject or object in the main clause. †(a) Before an (anaphoric) pronoun as subject or object in the subordinate clause referring to the subject or object of the main clause: except that, that..not. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. l. 1503 (MED) Þer nas..Nat left a man withInne Troye toun Þat able was to stonden in bataille..but þei comen oute. J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 923 (MED) Nas ther non so strong, but he dyd hym bere Owte off hys sadyl. ?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. C.j^v There was non that there was But he had an offyce more or lasse. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Kings xx. 15 There is nothynge in my treasures but I haue shewed it them. a1620 M. Fotherby Atheomastix (1622) ii. vi. §4. 255 There is no sicknesse, but it hath his redresse. 1662 H. More Immortality of Soul (ed. 2) 66 in Coll. Several Philos. Writings We cannot conceive of any portion of matter but it is either hard or soft. 1704 A. Pope Corr. 26 Dec. (1956) I. 2 No Beggar is so poor but he can keep a Cur, and no Author is so beggarly but he can keep a Critic. a1718 W. Penn Tracts in Wks. (1726) I. 674 There is no Government in the World, but it must either stand upon Will and Power, or Condition and Contract. 1848 J. Spedding Evenings with Reviewer II. 392 Hardly a man passes by but he must add a wreath to it. 1880 Daily Tel. 11 Dec. There never was a reform yet propounded..but some one pronounced it forthwith to be chimerical, extravagant, and Utopian. 1888 R. L. Stevenson Black Arrow ii. i. 100 Not a man but he is some deal heartened up! (b) With the pronominal subject or object of the subordinate clause unexpressed, so that but acts as a negative relative: that..not, who..not (e.g. Not a man but felt this terror, i.e. there was not a man who did not feel this terror, they all felt this terror). Now archaic and rare. ΚΠ c1500 Three Kings' Sons (1895) 168 There be none othir there that knowe me, but wold be glad to wite me do wele. 1508 J. Fisher Treat. Penyt. Psalmes sig. dd.iv I thynke there be no man but somtyme hath had thexperyence of the Ioye and pleasure that is in the soule after true confessyon. 1532 H. Latimer Let. in Wks. (1845) 340 Who can dissolve it, but shall seem [translating L. nisi qui videbitur] to repugn against God? 1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lii. 4 No kind of flie a liue, but was there that day. 1587 T. Churchyard in J. Higgins Mirour for Magistrates (new ed.) f. 267 ^v Not one of these, but gaue his maister thanke. 1628 J. Earle Micro-cosmogr. li. sig. I8 There is no man of worth but has a piece of singularity. 1689 R. Milward Selden's Table-talk 55 There is no Prince in Christendom but is directly a Tradesman. 1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 343 There was scarce a Plantation near me, but had some of them. 1762 O. Goldsmith Citizen of World I. 222 There is no work whatsoever but he can criticise. 1820 J. Keats Lamia ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 43 Not a man but felt the terror in his hair. 1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake II. xxii. 368 Hardly one of the Frenchmen round, but..looked on Hereward as a barbarian Englishman. 1883 Continent 28 Feb. 280/2 She has asked them all to come and see her off, and not one but has answered to the call. 1957 R. Sutcliff Shield Ring iv. 38 There is scarce one among us but knows the fells as a man knows his own kale-garth. f. After various limiting temporal expressions. Also in but that. (a) After no sooner: than (e.g. No sooner said, but done, i.e. no sooner said, than done). Cf. soon adv. 12b. ΚΠ J. Metham Amoryus & Cleopes (1916) l. 1996 (MED) Thys word nas sunner spokyn, but that the deuyl gan owte flye. a1470 T. Malory Morte Darthur (Winch. Coll. 13) (1990) I. 107 He had no sunner seyde the worde but there com in four knyghtes. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxiv. 264 He had no sooner made his wysshe but they were set on the table. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xix. sig. M1^v Philoclea no sooner espied the Lion, but that..she lept vp, & ran to the lodge-ward. 1597 T. Beard Theatre Gods Iudgements i. xxxiii. 188 It was no sooner said but done. 1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον i. 30 That was no sooner heard but they fell into a divine rapture resembling madnesse. 1662 I. T. Haughton's Grim the Collier iii. 43 in Gratiæ Theatrales He, poor Heart, no sooner heard my newes, But turns me up his Whites, and falls flat down. a1674 Earl of Clarendon Hist. Rebellion (1717) III. ii. xvi. 722 Which was no sooner ended, but that all the City-Bells rang out. 1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones II. vi. v. 257 No sooner acquainted my Brother; but he immediately wanted to propose it. View more context for this quotation 1774 O. Goldsmith Grecian Hist. I. viii. 265 Which Nicias had no sooner notice of, but he embarked his troops. 1783 J. O. Justamond tr. G. T. F. Raynal Philos. Hist. Europeans in Indies (new ed.) VI. 293 They were no sooner landed at Barbadoes, but the monster sold her who had saved his life. 1844 T. Stephen Hist. Church Scotl. III. li. 434 No sooner was this storm over, but a tempest arose which did terrible execution. 1998 What Cellphone Nov. 38/2 We've waited a long time for Nokia to announce its plans on dual-band handsets, but no sooner does it reveal all, but the phone arrives in the market. †(b) After not far, not half, not long, scarce, scarcely, etc.: when, before. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 41 (MED) It was not long bot of Bretane and of othre contres ther come enwe. 1523 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles I. 230 They were scant entred, but that the frenchmen came thyder. 1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) R iij b We had not long furth past, but that we sawe Blacke Cerberus. 1587 G. Turberville Tragicall Tales f. 18 He scarsly spake the worde, but by and by..vnto her flankes they flewe. a1650 S. D'Ewes Autobiogr. & Corr. (1845) (modernized text) I. 240 I was scarce come into commons, but..I was set at work, arguing a moot-point or law-case on Thursday night after supper. 1681 H. More Plain Expos. Daniel ii. 35 He had scarce rub'd his eyes..but Darius fled. 1713 J. Addison Cato iv. iv Scarce had I left my father, but I met him. 1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 24 Nor had we receiv'd him on Board half an Hour, but..we put out to Sea. 1727 D. Defoe Ess. Hist. Apparitions xi. 237 He had not gone many Steps more, but he saw his Brother. 1768 O. Goldsmith Good Natur'd Man iii. 43 He's scarce gotten out of one scrape, but he's running his head into another. 1800 S. T. Coleridge tr. F. Schiller Piccolomini i. ix. 40 Scarce have I arrived..But there is brought to me from your equerry A splendid richly-plated hunting dress. 1835 Colonist (Sydney) 16 July 228/3 Scarce a day passes but one may observe either one or more passing along the road from the chief gang to the detached party. †(c) After it was not long after: that (e.g. It was not long after, but they rebelled, i.e. it was not long after, that they rebelled). Also in but that. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1450 King Ponthus (Digby) in Publ. Mod. Lang. Assoc. Amer. (1897) 12 77 (MED) Itt was not long after bot all the batells assemelyd. 1525 Ld. Berners tr. J. Froissart Cronycles II. 156 It was not longe after but that the duke of Lancastre, etc. 1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. 258/2 It was not long after, but Eustace sonne to kyng Steuan..made warre vpon duke Henry. 1635 T. Cranley Amanda 18 It was not long after but I had occasion to goe into London in company of another Gentleman. 1699 J. Field Def. Apol. for Quakers 1 It was not long after, but they rebelled against him. †g. After (it is (a)) pity: (negating the dependent clause) that..not (e.g. It is a pity but he were a bishop, i.e. it is a pity he is not a bishop). Obsolete. ΚΠ 1546 J. Bale Actes Eng. Votaryes: 1st Pt. f. 38 Were yt not pytie but they were canonysed sayntes? 1573 New Custome ii. iii. sig. Ciij^v It were pittie but thou were hanged before. 1598 R. Barnfield Ode in Encomion Lady Pecunia sig. E3^v Pity but hee were a King. 1642 T. Fuller Holy State iii. xxv. 233 Pity but his eyes were out that squints at his own ends in doing Gods work. 1667 H. More Divine Dialogues i. 64 It's pitty but what you say should be true. 1729 C. Johnson Village Opera i. i. 10 Methinks it is pity but the young Folks had seen one another before Marriage. 1776 J. Leacock Fall Brit. Tyranny iv. vi. 50 It's a pity but you were a bishop, you have the scriptures so pat. 1861 C. M. Yonge Cameos lxiv, in Monthly Packet Sept. 254 Pity but we knew more of the one loyal man of his time! 1869 ‘M. Twain’ Innocents Abroad x. 91 Pity but somebody'd take that poor old lunatic and dig all that poetry rubbage out of him. III. In a compound sentence, connecting the two coordinate clauses; or introducing an independent sentence connected in sense, though not in form, with the preceding sentence.In a compound sentence the second clause may be contracted so as to omit constituents also occurring in the main clause, e.g. Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God = ‘Thou hast not lied unto men, but thou hast lied unto God’; John couldn't come to see me, but Mary could = ‘John couldn't come to see me, but Mary could come to see me’.Rare in Old English; attestations are often interpreted as transitional from uses in sense C. 7 (see further B. Mitchell Old Eng. Syntax (1985) §3500). In Old English coordinate clauses are usually connected by ac ac conj. 11. In a compound sentence where the clause introduced by but completes the sense of the preceding clause. a. As a coordinating adversative conjunction, introducing a statement contrary to, or incompatible with, a preceding one in the negative: on the contrary. ΚΠ eOE Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Parker) anno 896 Næron [langscipu] nawðer ne on fresisc gescæpene ne on denisc, bute swa him selfum ðuhte þæt hie nytwyrðoste beon meahten. a1225 (?OE) MS Lamb. in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 19 Crist..com on þisse midelerd nawiht for ure ernunge bute for his muchele mildheortnesse. a1325 (c1280) Southern Passion (Pepys 2344) (1927) l. 142 He ne ffond no ffrut þer-on bote leues & bow. c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Luke viii. 52 The damysele is not deed, but [L. sed] slepith. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. i. l. 36 Þat wollen neyþer swynke ne swete bote swery grete oþes. c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 368 Now is me shape eternally to dwelle Noght in purgatorie but in helle. a1500 (?a1400) Stanzaic Life of Christ (Harl. 3909) (1926) l. 9586 (MED) He endeles is, ne creatur bot creatour. 1513 T. More Hist. Edward V 3 [He] began not by warre, but by Law to challenge the crown. 1593 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie ii. v. 110 Neither the matter..was arbitrarie but necessarie. 1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xvi. viii. 581 Monkeyes, and..Babiounes, were not men but beasts. 1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 18 He left not Faction, but of that was left. 1701 Laconics (new ed.) iii. liii. 95 The Grammatical observation is not worth a Farthing, but a wholesome Mythology's couch'd under it. 1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 141. ⁋10 A reply, not to what the lady had said, but to what it was convenient for me to hear. 1808 H. C. Robinson Let. 7 May in Notes & Lect. on Shakespeare (1849) I. 327 This is not virtue but vanity. 1865 J. Ruskin Sesame & Lilies i. 19 A book is essentially not a talked thing, but a written thing. 1934 ‘M. J. Farrell’ Devoted Ladies (1984) ii. 49 The bath was not a bath at all but a shallow pink shell. 2006 Malaysian Business (Nexis) 1 Mar. 28 There are also times when funding is not the problem but the lack of projects or planning tied to a budget. b. (a) Introducing a statement which is not contrary to, but is not fully consonant with, or is contrasted with, the preceding one (which may be affirmative or negative): nevertheless, yet, however. ΚΠ OE Pharaoh 4 Nat ic hit be wihte, butan ic wene þus, þæt þær screoda wære gescyred rime siex hun[dred godra] searohæbbendra. lOE King Ælfred tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Bodl.) (2009) I. xxxi. 306 Ic nat humeta [sc. how the son killed his father], buton we witon þæt hit unmennisclic dæd wæs. a1250 (?c1200) Prov. Alfred (Galba) (1955) 126 Ne mihtestu þi lif helden none hwile, bute [a1275 Trin. Cambr. bote, a1300 Jesus Oxf. Ac] al þu it scoldest leten. c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) l. 355 Deth him tok þan he bes[t] wolde Liuen, but hyse dayes were fulde. a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 2055 (MED) He..busked euene to hire bed, bud noþing he no fond. c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 74 Hise hors weere goode, but he ne was nat gay. c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 14 (MED) Þay schott at hym, bot nane of þam myghte hitt hym. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Isa. lxiii. C Abraham knoweth vs not..But thou Lorde art oure father. 1577 R. Holinshed Chron. II. 1619/1 The armye wente on, but so muche the slowlyer, bycause the way was somewhat narrowe. 1628 O. Felltham Resolves: 2nd Cent. lxxxiii. sig. Y8 One may faile me by accident, but the other will doe it out of fore-intent. 1691 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. To Rdr. sig. A6 Now we Discourse better, but we live worse. 1703 W. Burkitt Expos. Notes New Test. Mark iv. 29 The Care and Endeavour is ours but the Blessing and Success is God's. 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 144. ⁋8 Her face speaks a Vestal, but her Heart a Messalina. 1766 O. Goldsmith Vicar of Wakefield I. x. 89 That pride which I had laid asleep, but not removed. 1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 5 Life may change, but it may fly not; Hope may vanish, but can die not. 1839 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) I. 351 The hopes of the Messenians sank, but not their courage. 1887 L. Beard & A. B. Beard How to amuse yourself & Others (1987) vi. 73 These little Mayers are sometimes pursued, but few are ever caught. 1931 Horticulture 15 Sept. 392/1 When the flowers of this splendid novelty open, they are a pure white color with a chrysanthemum gold center, but as the flowers mature they assume a claret pink shade. 2017 Salem (Mass.) News (Nexis) 4 Apr. Cedar shingles are more expensive, but they are also durable. (b) After not only, not merely. Frequently strengthened by the addition of also ( not only, but also). Cf. only adv. 3. ΚΠ c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) 2 Cor. viii. 21 We purueyen goode thingis, not oonly bifore God, but also bifore alle men. c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Shipman's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 285 My gold is youres..And nat oonly my gold but my chaffare. ?c1430 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 511 Nott oonli..medful, butt moost medeful. a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 236 (MED) For sekenys enfebelyth not only the body, but also al Wyse resoun and mynde. 1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie i. xxiii. 36 It is not only allowable, but also necessary. 1624 H. Wotton Elements Archit. in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ (1672) 57 Artizans have not only their Growths and Perfections but likewise their Vains and Times. 1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 18 We had time not only to see the Town, but the places circumjacent also. 1726 J. Swift Gulliver II. iv. vi. 95 I was not only endowed with the Faculty of Speech, but likewise with some Rudiments of Reason. 1780 E. Burke Speech Bristol previous to Election 21 I might not only secure my acquittal, but make merit with the opposers of the bill. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 232 The ally..was not only a Roman Catholic, but a persecutor of the reformed Churches. 1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. Prel. 21 Leofric was not merely Lord of Bourne, but Earl of Mercia. 1871 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 25 They not only tell lies but bad lies. 1933 A. S. Eddington Expanding Universe iii. 109 We can thus imagine space to be populated not only with real stars and galaxies but with ghosts of stars which existed 6000 million, 12000 million, etc. years ago. 2016 C. Kruse Social Life Forensic Evid. iii. 60 The investigator was sure the custodee had not only driven the car but also stolen it. 12. In an independent clause within a compound sentence (usually after a semicolon or colon), or at the beginning of a following sentence. a. Introducing a statement of the nature of an exception, objection, limitation, or contrast to what has gone before: however, on the other hand, moreover, yet.Sometimes merely expressing disconnection, or emphasizing the introduction of a distinct or independent fact (e.g. formerly the minor premise of a syllogism: cf. quot. 1690). ΚΠ OE Ælfric Old Eng. Hexateuch: Gen. (Claud.) xv. 10 He dyde ða swa, & todælde hi on twa, buton þa fugelas he ne todælde [L. aves autem non divisit]. a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 277 Poure þu wunden was..in a beastes cribbe. Bote swa þu eldere wex, swa þu pourere was. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 4121 Al hit þuncð him wel idon..bute [c1300 Otho bote] nele he þe nauere Euelin. mid ærhðe bitæchen. c1300 Life & Martyrdom Thomas Becket (Harl. 2277) (1845) l. 43 Gilbert..seide he was al to hire wille bote he moste bithenche. a1425 (?c1350) Ywain & Gawain (1964) l. 788 Now most I ga, bot drede þe noght. ?c1430 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 220 Ȝif ȝe axen my Fadir ony þing in my name he schal ȝeve it to ȝow. But we axen in þe name of Jesus whanne we [etc.]. 1548 H. Latimer Notable Serm. sig. A.iiii^v But now you wyll aske me whom I cal a prelate. 1587 L. Mascall Bk. Cattell: Oxen (1596) 72 Some do vse to feede them on the ground without a racke, but that is thought to be..more wastfull of hay. 1611 Bible (King James) John xix. 9 But Iesus gave him no answer. View more context for this quotation a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1954) VII. 293 He saw it; but, but with the eye of hope. 1690 J. Locke Ess. Humane Understanding iii. vii. 229 All Animals have Sense; but a Dog is an Animal: Here it [sc. but] signifies little more, but that the latter Proposition is joined to the former, as the Minor of a Syllogism. 1724 J. Swift Let. to Carteret 3 Sept. in Wks. (1765) VIII. ii. 61 We are here preparing for your reception..but, whether you approve the manner, I can only guess. 1757 W. Burke Acct. European Settlem. Amer. I. iii. vi. 233 Their ladies are little celebrated for their chastity or domestic virtues; but they are still a good deal restrained by the old-fashioned etiquette. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague i. i. 414 Fare ye well. But list! sweet youths, where'er you go, beware. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 615 Feversham passed for a good-natured man: but he was a foreigner. 1936 A. Uttley Country Child (new ed.) xiii. 233 She was swept from her path, flung against one tree, butted into another, slapped, smacked, and buffeted, but she fought doggedly on. 2014 N.Y. Mag. 8 Sept. 136/1 Their regular life is in the Canary Islands, but they were ‘technomads’. †b. Introducing a reply to a question. Cf. why int. Obsolete. [Compare French mais, ancient Greek ἀλλά, in similar use.] ΚΠ OE tr. Gospel of Nicodemus (Cambr.) ii. §6. 157 Pilatus..ongan þa cnyhtas to axienne for hwig þæt folc þone hælend swa yfele hæfde. Hig andswaredon Pilate and cwædon: Buton hig habbað andan to hym. a1325 (c1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 3075 ‘Quilc ben ðo ðe sulen vt-gon?’ Quað moyses, ‘but alle! wapmen Wið erf and childre and wimmen!’ c1390 Castle of Love (Vernon) (1967) l. 809 And whuche beoþ [þe] þreo bayles ȝet..[B]ote þe inemaste bayle, I wot, Bitokneþ hire holy maidenhod. a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19622 ‘Quat art þou, lauerd, sua vnsen?’ ‘Bot i hatt iesus nazaren’. c. (a) After an interjection or exclamation, as yes! but, aye! but, nay! but, ah! but, oh! but, I say! but, etc., expressing some degree of opposition, objection, or protest. In later use also: (colloquial) expressing surprise or recognition of something unexpected. Now chiefly regional except in yes, but: see yes adv. 2c. ΚΠ c1450 (c1380) G. Chaucer House of Fame (Fairf. 16) (1878) l. 2097 Lat me go first, nay but let me. a1592 R. Greene Sc. Hist. Iames IV (1598) iv. sig. G4 Nay but my friends, one hornpipe, further a refluence backe, and two doubles forward: what not one crosse point against Sundayes. 1653 J. Rogers Sagrir 14 O! but some will say, What call have we? 1683 J. Crowne City Politiques i. 5 Whoo! but are'nt you wi' my Father yonder? 1722 H. Carey Hanging & Marriage 25 Ay! but has he left no dying Speech? 1773 Hist. Mr. Stanly & Miss Temple I. xxiv. 204 Oh, but he knows how to humour her! 1846 W. S. Landor Wks. I. 347 God forgive me! but I think him as worthy as the best of the saints. 1902 M. J. H. Skrine World's Delight ii. iii. 134 ‘And you've a-come 'ere to bide?’ ‘Ay. In an unco' big boat... Down the watter—eh! but it was far.’ 1924 J. Galsworthy White Monkey i. vii, in Mod. Comedy (1929) 42 Ah! but they think us fogeys, you know. 2015 A. Titley tr. M. Ó Cadhain Dirty Dust i. 26 Oh my! But that's very interesting. (b) Introducing a statement on which the preceding clause has the function of commenting, often with concessive force. ΚΠ 1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 91. ⁋4 You would hardly believe it, but there have been Designs even upon me. 1752 M. Browne Ess. on Universe (new ed.) iii, in Wks. & Rest of Creation 66 Who can tell but Solar Clouds may aid Mercurial Skies, and yield a gelid Shade? 1799 M. Culley Let. 15 Nov. in M. Culley & G. Culley Farming Lett. (2006) 34 It may be wrong to differ with Matt Staward, but they are proverbyal for doing little work wherever they have been as I hear. 1844 Lloyd's Penny Weekly Misc. 2 No. 94 665/1 You would scarcely believe it, but at the very time he was implying, not uttering, the greatest affection for me, he was planning in his own mind how best he could assail the heart of Margaret. 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick iii. 17 I don't know how it is, but people like to be private when they are sleeping. 1882 Q. Rev. Apr. 399 It may sound paradoxical, but we will venture to assert that there is nothing in our literature more Demosthenean in style and method than the ‘Drapier Letters’. 1914 Amer. Mag. Sept. 42/1 You may not believe it, Jim, but I am an alumnus of the Homeburg band. 1944 Bath Weekly Chron. & Herald 3 June 11/1 I know it's Saturday, Mrs. Jones, but could you type these schedules before you go? 2007 A. Theroux Laura Warholic xxiii. 339 I hate to say this, but don't you see that you are with her because you feel a failure? (c) colloquial. Introducing an elliptical comment on a preceding statement, usually expressing resigned acceptance. ΚΠ 1919 ‘K. Mansfield’ Let. 3 Nov. (1993) III. 66 Why believe liars: everybody lies. I don't know—but there you are. 1966 N. Gordimer Late Bourgeois World 110 How does it look to you?..It's a bit picture-postcard, but still. 1994 J. Kelman How Late it Was 125 He..rubbed behind his ears, especially the right one which was sore, although it was the left yin giving him the noise problems; but there ye go. 1997 C. Walsh in S. Champion & D. Scannell Shenanigans (1999) viii. 144 Louise is better looking but hey. 2003 J. Mullaney We'll be Back 171 In the cold light of today, I realise I must have looked like Marty Feldman trying to let off a silent but deadly, but what the heck. d. (a) Used to emphasize a following word or statement. Especially in representations of the speech of French speakers. Frequently in but of course. [Compare French mais oui (see mais oui int.), mais énormément, etc.] ΚΠ 1887 ‘M. Corelli’ Thelma II. ii. ii. 157 ‘I believe you would do it if I asked you!’ he said. ‘But, of course!’ 1929 E. Scott Randalls Round 86 ‘You are making alterations in your church here, are you not?’..‘But yes, Monsieur.’ 1992 R. Stone Outerbridge Reach xxv. 181 ‘Duffy adores you’... ‘Really?’ ‘Oh, but absolutely.’ 1999 J. Elliot Unexpected Light (2000) vi. 218 But of course! A bird, a phoenix, the mythical Simorgh! 2003 W. Wax 7 Days & 7 Nights xvi. 166 But of course, ma chérie. (b) Preceding a word repeated for emphasis. ΚΠ 1920 R. Macaulay Potterism vi. iv. 239 A weekly, and it promised to sell better than any other weekly on the market, but far better. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatterley's Lover xiv. 240 And about everything I talked to her: but everything. 1958 B. Nichols Sweet & Twenties x. 132 There is nothing, but nothing, to be said for the female knee. 1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief ii. iv. 158 The restaurant is French and fancy, but fancy-fancy. 2005 Furrow 56 300 And nobody, but nobody, is exempt from this vulnerability in the winter of the soul. (c) colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). Preceding an adjective or adverb so as to emphasize it. ΚΠ 1940 J. O’Hara in New Yorker 22 Oct. 13/1 He..began making cracks but loud. 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? viii. 153 Now you've really bitched yourself up. But good. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices ii. ii. 84 If the other..looks like getting in the way it must be turned out, but quick. 1965 I. Fleming Man with Golden Gun vi. 81 I'm goin' fix that man, but good. 2001 ‘R. Everhard’ Tattoo Naked Lady i. 19 We had to give him the blow-off but quick. D. n.² An instance or utterance of the word ‘but’ (cf. sense C. 12a); a verbal objection presented by a person.but me no buts: see but v. 2. ifs, ands, or (also and) buts: see and n.¹ 1. ΘΚΠ the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > qualification > [noun] > instance of conditionc1380 protestationc1390 butc1405 restrictiona1450 limitationc1475 if1532 conditionary1678 reservation1719 whereas1795 yes but1870 string1888 c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Parson's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) §420 Som man preiseth his neighebore by a wikked entente, for..alwey he maketh a .but. [c1435 Royal 18 C.ii butte] at the laste ende, þ^t is digne of moore blame than worth is al the preisynge. c1450 (c1400) Bk. Vices & Virtues (Huntington) (1942) 60 (MED) For alwey whan men spekeþ good of any wyȝt to-fore hym, he fyndeþ euere-more a bute, and seiþ, ‘ȝe, bute.’ 1571 Sempill Ballates (1872) 137 Ȝit botis & hummis declairis ȝow quhat I mene. 1614 T. Adams Diuells Banket iv. 139 There is a correctiue But, a veruntamen, spoyles all in the vp-shot..here is a But that shipwrackes all. 1734 G. Hickes in 3 Short Treat. To Rdr. sig. (d)^v He was observ'd to do it with so many Buts, and exceptions, that like the adjuncts, which destroy their Subject, they null'd the praises he pretended to give. 1753 Extracts Trial J. Stewart in Scots Mag. Sept. 446/2 He was a sufficient but himself for all the sum. 1872 W. Minto Man. Eng. Prose Lit. 108 We are..jerked back with a ‘but’. 1947 People 22 June 4/2 But, and it's a big but, I don't think you could ever have brought yourself to speak of your fear to the man. 2004 Music Educators Jrnl. Sept. 37/1 Fending off needed changes with all the ‘buts’ that keep us from moving beyond the status quo. Phrases †P1. but if: if not, unless, except; = sense C. 8a. Obsolete.Very common from 14th to 16th cent. ΚΠ OE tr. Bull of Pope Sergius I in W. de G. Birch Cartularium Saxonicum (1885) I. 155 Na hi..þær lætan þæne bisceop mæssan singan butan gyf he þyder cymð gelaþud of þam abbude. c1175 Ormulum (Burchfield transcript) l. 1662 Þatt nohht ne maȝȝ ben don..But iff itt be wiþþ witt. c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 13193 We hit [sc. Rome] wulleð habben, beute ȝif þu wulle icnawen beo þat Arður is king ouer þe. 1340 Ayenbite (1866) 7 He deþ aye þe heste..of holi cherche bote yef hit by uor zome nyede þet holi cherche granteþ. c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1110 Hou schulde þou com to his kyth bot if þou clene were? ?c1450 tr. Bk. Knight of La Tour Landry (1906) 13 But yef thei amende hem, the citee and the peple shulde be perysshed. 1510–13 Mery Geste of Frere & Boye sig. A.viii The boye wyll combre vs all But yf ye may hym chaste. a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. v. sig. Q7^v He did not like that maides should once stirre out of their fathers houses, but if it were to milke a cow. 1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene iii. iii. sig. Dd8^v But if remedee, Thou her afford, full shortly I her dead shall see. 1601 T. Bodley in Lett. to T. James (1926) 22 I am hartely sorie, that yow are vexed with the stone... But if it be of the kidneis, the danger is not great. †P2. but and. a. But also, and also. Obsolete (Scottish in later use). ΚΠ a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Wisd. xi. 20 Not onli the hurting..but and the looking bi drede slen. But and withoute these with o spirit thei myȝten ben slayn. 1487 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (St. John's Cambr.) v. 595 I haf a bow, bot and a vyre. a1505 R. Henryson Bludy Serk 12 in Poems (1981) 158 Meik bot and debonair. 1724 A. Ramsay Tea-table Misc. (1733) II. 181 A kame but and a kamingstock. 1828 P. Buchan Anc. Ballads & Songs N. Scotl. II. 35 She thought she heard a bairn greet, But and a woman's moan. 1839 Whistle-Binkie 2nd Ser. 75 In height an ell but an' a span. b. But if. Also but and if. Cf. and conj.¹ 13. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (Cambr. Gg.4.27) (1879) l. 1790 But & thow crye or noyse make. c1440 Prose Life Alexander (Thornton) (1913) 85 (MED) Bot and men schulde be commendid þat are oppressed wit disesse, þan sulde blynd men..ouer all oþer be commendid. ?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. ix. sig. K.ij^v But & thou array thy body sumptuously..thou canst nat be excused as chast in mynde. 1535 Bible (Coverdale) Matt. v. 13 But and yf the salt haue lost his saltnes. ?a1560 L. Digges Geom. Pract.: Pantometria (1571) i. xii. sig. D iij ^v But and if they bee of contrarie shadow, worke contrarely. 1638 J. Row Serm. 3 But and they [sc. Rome] had gotten their will, she [sc. Kirk of Scotland] wald a been sure of her Ladetties. 1673 R. Allestree Ladies Calling i. §1. ⁋27 But and if on the other side they meet with one of too much sagacity. 1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads I. 237 But and this black hour be past, I rede ye'll rue it sair. 1869 G. A. Simcox Poems & Romances 125 But and if they do not find, Then a bitter biting wind Chases them before the moon. P3. but for: (as preposition) except for, with the exception of; were it not for.there but for the grace of God go I: see grace of God n. Phrases 2.The collocation but for occurs commonly with various senses of but and with for both as preposition and conjunction. ΚΠ c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 15697 Hit likede wel þan kinge buten for ane þinge. c1523 J. Rastell Expos. Terminorum Legum Anglorum sig. A7^v/2 Y^f they haue no estate but for terme of lyfe they shall pray in ayd of hym in the reuercion. 1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Diij^v These mine eyes..But for thy piteous lips no more had seene. View more context for this quotation 1630 T. Randolph Aristippus 25 The King of Russia had died of the wormes, but for a powder I sent him. 1667 S. Pepys Diary 30 May (1974) VIII. 243 Several of the Council..would come but for their attending the King. 1781 W. Cowper Let. 24 June (1979) I. 491 The delay has enabled me to add a piece of considerable length which but for the delay would not have made its appearance upon this Occasion. It answers to the name of Hope. 1815 J. Bentham Chrestomathia ii. 12 But for the apparent paradoxicality and antisentimentality, instead of economizing, minimizing would, in this case..have been inserted. 1885 Law Rep.: Chancery Div. 29 291 But for the concurrent jurisdiction, the decision..would have been the other way. 1985 B. Neil As we Forgive x. 182 The room, empty but for Lydia sitting wrapped in blankets. P4. but now: just now, only this moment. Now rare. ΚΠ a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) l. 1575 (MED) Ȝe weren brouȝt..Both tweyn But now this last nyght. 1532 in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1824) 1st Ser. II. 24 We can do no lesse but now uppon the Kyngs revenue into his owne realme to gyve..thanks to Almightie God..for his prosperous..revenue. 1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue i. 248 He is heere (Sir) about the house, I saw him but now. 1669 Earl of Orrery Black Prince in Two New Trag. v. 61 Sir, and I but now did hear, That with this Gentleman you Angry were. 1712 T. Ellwood Davideis iv. i. 192 He, who but now was over Hot and Bold, Is now become to Her exceeding Cold. 1762 S. Foote Orators ii. 56 Was it yourself that was happing about here but now. 1823 W. Scott Peveril I. iv. 123 I attach thee of the crime of which thou hast but now made thy boast. 1859 W. Barnes Rhymes Dorset Dial. II. 7 Back here, but now, the jobber John Come by. 1948 L. MacNeice Holes in Sky 49 He is separate too, who had but now ascended Into the panarchy of created things Wearing his halo cocked. 1955 P. Sherwood St. Maximus the Confessor Intro. 29 Yet such an answer would completely evade the question that has but now been asked. P5. but only. †a. Introducing a word or (especially) a phrase which is excepted from the general statement: except; = sense C. 1. Formerly also but one. Obsolete. ΚΠ c1225 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Bodl.) (1940) l. 46 Ha nawiht ne þearf of oðer þing þenchen, bute ane of hire leofmon. a1325 Statutes of Realm in MS Rawl. B.520 f. 96^v Þer me ne mai noȝt vochen warant out of þe lignage bote onliche trauersen þe Entree. c1400 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe (Cambr. Dd.3.53) (1872) ii. §23. 32 F is nat consideret but only [to] declare þat A sit euene ouere the pool. a1475 J. Fortescue Governance of Eng. (Laud) (1885) 122 It nedith not to..purvey, but only ffor the kynges house. ?1538 A. Fitzherbert Offices of Sheryffes sig. K.iiij The admyral hath no iurisdiccyon, but onely vpon the highe see. 1602 L. Lloyd Briefe Conf. Divers Lawes 27 There was no God but onely his maister. 1657 W. Prynne Exact Abridgem. Rec. Tower of London 16 It is enacted That no purveyance be made but only for the King. 1682 G. Wheler Journey into Greece i. 2 No Appeal can be made, but only to the Senate. a1715 Bp. G. Burnet Hist. Own Time (1724) I. 480 They took little care about it, but only to find men who would bear the charge. b. Limiting a word or phrase: only; = sense B. 2a. Formerly also but alonely, but..only, only..but. Now rare. ΚΠ 1477 Earl Rivers tr. Dictes or Sayengis Philosophhres (Caxton) (1877) lf. 5 Another litil flode, whiche drowned, but the contre of Egipte onely. c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) lxxxviii. 280 I had but alonely my swerde in my hande. 1598 R. Barnfield Combat Consc. iv, in Encomion Lady Pecunia sig. D3 They are indeed, but onely meere Illusions. a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) v. xi. 6 He onely liu'd but till he was a man. View more context for this quotation 1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 5 I finde but only two sorts of writings. 1682 J. Banks Vertue Betray'd ii. 17 Woolsey shall be king, I ask but only Seymour in Exchange. 1730 R. Millar Hist. Church under Old Test. iv. 501 Archelaus the son of Herod the Great was but only an Ethnarch. 1797 J. Woodforde Diary 1 Apr. (1931) V. 23 Having sold my Barley at 8/6 per Coomb. I recd. no cash but only a Corn Note. 1860 J. Ruskin Mod. Painters V. 279 (footnote) Caring only but to catch the public eye with his coarse, presumptuous, ponderous, illiterate work. 1931 E. A. Wetherald Lyrics & Sonnets 215 You send across the hedge of reverence To me who see you only but to bless. P6. In the subordinate clause (protasis) of a conditional sentence. if——did but know, did——but know: if——only knew. ΚΠ a1616 W. Shakespeare Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) ii. vii. 18 Didst thou but know the inly touch of Loue. a1616 W. Shakespeare Cymbeline (1623) iii. iii. 46 Did you but know the Citties Vsuries, And felt them knowingly. 1710 C. Shadwell Fair Quaker of Deal i. i. 6 If the Government did but know what a Swabb thou art. 1801 S. T. Coleridge Coll. Lett. (1956) II. 745 If you did but know what a flutter the Old Moveable at my left Breast has been in, since I read your letter. 1992 J. Torrington Swing Hammer Swing! xxxii. 298 Maybe those frozen dadpoles down there on the manky floor had gotten lucky did they but know it. 2005 Church Times 15 Apr. 29/4 Ah, if they did but know the muddle that is in the writer's head. P7. all but (as an adverb or adjectival phrase): see all adj., pron., n., adv., and conj. Phrases 23b. but that: see senses C. 7, C. 9, C. 10. but what: see what pron., adv., int., adj.¹, conj., and n. Phrases 1a. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.¹c1300adj.n.³c1570v.1553prep.adv.conj.n.²eOE
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† butn.1

butadj.n.3

Compounds

butv.

butprep.adv.conj.n.2

Phrases

† butn.¹

butadj.n.³

butprep.adv.conj.n.²