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Human buttocks.


From Middle English buttok, probably from Old English buttuc ‎(end; end piece"; also, "short piece of land), attested since 1300. A diminutive form of what is presumedly the Old English precursor of butt +‎ -ock ‎(diminutive suffix).



buttock ‎(plural buttocks)

  1. (usually in the plural) Each of the two large fleshy halves of the posterior part of the body between the base of the back, the perineum and the top of the legs.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of the Maritime Dictionary to this entry?)

Usage notes[edit]

The plural form is usually used in the singular sense for a single person's posterior, often called butt. It is rarer to refer to only a single buttock, which is then usually specified as left or right.



See also[edit]


  • buttock” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).