bottom
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bottom¹
- /ˈbɒt.əm/ UK
- /ˈbɑ.təm/ Atlantic Canada, US
- [ˈbɑ.ɾəm] Atlantic Canada, US
- /ˈbɒt.əm/ Canada, dialectal
- /ˈbɔt.əm/ Australia
- [ˈbɔ̟t.əm] New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɒtəm
Where it comes from
PIE word
*bʰudʰmḗn
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ-?
Proto-Indo-European *-mḗn
Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn
Proto-Germanic *butmaz
Proto-West Germanic *botm
Old English botm
Middle English botme
English bottom
From Middle English botme, botom, from Old English botm, bodan (“bottom, foundation; ground, abyss”), from Proto-West Germanic *butm, from Proto-Germanic *butmaz, *budmaz (“bottom; ground”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom”).
Cognates
Cognate with Yola bothom, bottom (“bottom”), Saterland Frisian Boudem (“floor; ground”), West Frisian boaiem (“floor; ground”), Dutch bodem, boom, boôm (“bottom; ground, soil”), German Boden (“floor; ground; soil”), Limburgish baom (“bottom; ground, soil”), Luxembourgish Buedem (“bottom; earth, soil”), Vilamovian bödum (“bottom; ground”), Danish bund (“bottom”), Elfdalian buottn (“bottom”), Faroese botnur (“bottom”), Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk botn (“bottom”), Norwegian Bokmål botn, bunn (“bottom”), Swedish botten (“bottom”); also Irish and Scottish Gaelic bonn (“base, bottom; sole (of foot)”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) (whence fund, via French), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of a cup or jar; the bottom of the sea; butt of a tree”), Albanian buzë (“rocky chasm”), Armenian անդունդ (andund), անդունդք (andundkʻ, “abyss, chasm”), Northern Kurdish bin (“bottom”), Persian بن (bon, “bottom”), Sanskrit बुध्न (budhna, “bottom”).
The noun sense “posterior of a person” is first attested in 1794; the verb sense “to reach the bottom of” is first attested in 1808. The term bottom dollar (“the last dollar one has”) is first attested in 1882.
noun bottoms · botton · bottome · buttom
- The lowest part of anything. barrels with the bottoms knocked out
- The lowest or last position in a rank. The Red Sox are at the bottom again.
- A garment worn to cover the body below the torso. There’s a hole in her pyjama bottoms.
- The lowest part of a container. In Ireland, where 14.5% of the population are jobless, emigration has climbed steadily since 2008, when Lehman Brothers collapsed and the bottom fell out of the Irish housing market. In the 12 months to April this year, 40,200 Irish passport-holders left, up from 27,700 the previous year, according
- Spirits poured into a glass before adding soda water.
- The second half of an inning, the home team's turn at bat. bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs
- The bass or baritone instruments of a band. a soda and a bottom of brandy
- The working portion of a moldboard-style plow. single-bottom plow
-
The remotest or innermost part of something.
Near-synonym: fundus (anatomical)
Similar: fundus
- The fundamental part; a basic aspect. get to the bottom of it
- Low-lying land; a valley or hollow. Where shall we go for a walk? How about Ashcombe Bottom?
-
Low-lying land near a river with alluvial soil.
Similar: bottomland, bottomlands, river bottom
-
The buttocks or anus.
Calvin, if you shoot that paper clip at me, I'll get your bottom hauled to the principal's office so fast you'll think you were in a time warp!!
Similar: 'tocks, arse, arse cheeks, ass, ass cheeks, back, backside, batty, behind, fundament, blessed assurance, booty
-
The bed of a body of water.
Similar: bed
- An abyss. In the Carpathian Bottom makes abode / The Shepherd of the Seas, a Prophet and a God
- A cargo vessel, a ship. We sail in leaky bottoms and on great and perilous waters; [...]
- Certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater. My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.
- A person who has a receptive role or has a preference for that role during intercourse. James and Lukas would make a great couple if they weren't both bottoms.
-
A sexual submissive.
Since what I wanted to do was be a bottom, a masochist, I had to learn that you could do it and be safe, that you could do it and not sign your life away, that you could do it by agreement, and that it was still fun.
Similar: catcher, pathic, zenana, sub, submissive
- Character, reliability, staying power, dignity, integrity or sound judgment. lack bottom
- Power of endurance. This was why Dee had always ridden a buckskin; a man following his kind of trails needed a horse with bottom, and a line-back like this one never wore out.
- A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon. the [silk]worms will fasten themselves, and make their bottoms, which in about fourteen days are finished.
- A trundle or spindle of thread. Edward Hoby of Bisham in Berkshire, Esq; Or, a Fess, Sable, between three Hobby-Hawks, proper; otherwise, Azure, three Bottoms in Fess, Gules.
- Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.
- Ellipsis of bottom quark
verb bottoms · bottoming · bottomed · botton · bottome
- To furnish (something) with a bottom. to bottom a chair
- To pour spirits into (a glass to be topped up with soda water). We shall bid that thoughtful waiter place beside him, near and handy, / Large supplies of soda water, tumblers bottomed well with brandy, […]
- To wind (like a ball of thread etc.). As you vnwinde her loue from him, / Lest it should rauel and be good to none, / You must prouide to bottome it on me.
- To establish or found (something) on or upon. But an absurd opinion concerning the king’s hereditary right to the crown does not prejudice one that is rational, and bottomed upon solid principles of law and policy.
- To lie on the bottom of; to underlie, to lie beneath. My first night in America was spent in a motel with plywood over its windows, its pool bottomed with garbage sacks.
- To be based or grounded. 'c. 1703, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Reading and Study for a Gentleman Find out upon what foundation any proposition advanced bottoms.
- To reach or strike against the bottom of something, so as to impede free action. allowance at the bottom of blind bores for the chamfered tip of the reamer will obviate additional operations with shouldering or bottoming reamers to completely finish the entire length of a hole.
- To reach the bottom of something. Squeaker's dog sniffed and barked joyfully around them till his licking efforts to bottom a salmon tin sent him careering in a muzzled frenzy, that caused the younger woman's thick lips to part grinningly till he came too close.
- To fall to the lowest point. The Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed on September 24, 2001. The CRB Index bottomed on October 24.
- To be the submissive partner in a BDSM relationship.
- To take on the receptive role during intercourse. I've never bottomed in my life.
adjective botton · bottome · buttom
- The lowest or last place or position. Those files should go on the bottom shelf.
- Relating to the genitals. bottom dysphoria
Bottom²
Where it comes from
* As an English surname, from the noun bottom. Compare Botham.
* As a French name, mistranslated from Lafond, in which Old French la fond (“the fountain”) is confused with modern le fond (“the bottom”).
proper noun Bottoms
- A surname.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: ass, bed, backside, underside, undersurface, penetrate, derriere, fathom, seat, tush, buns, bum, butt, keister, arse, rear
Translations
Every language
noun lowest part
| Español | fondo, solera, parte de abajo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 밑 mit, 바닥 badak, 바탕 batang |
| 日本語 | 底 soko, 下部 kabu |
| 中文 | 底部 dǐbù, 底端 dǐduān, 底 dǐ |
| हिन्दी | निचला niclā |
| Português | fundo |
| Français | fond, bas, dessous |
| Deutsch | Boden, Grund, Unterseite |
| Italiano | fondo |
| Ελληνικά | πάτος pátos, πυθμένας pythménas |
| Română | fund |
| Русский | дно dno, низ niz, ни́жняя часть nížnjaja častʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | đáy |
| العربية | قَاع qāʕ, قَعْر qaʕr |
| עברית | תַּחְתִּית takhtít |
noun slang: penetrated partner in sex
| Español | pasivo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 바텀 bateom |
| 日本語 | ネコ neko, 受け uke, 凹 |
| 中文 | 被動 /被动 bèidòng, 零 líng, 0 líng, 零號 /零号 línghào |
| Kiswahili | msenge |
| Português | passivo |
| Français | passif, enculé |
| Deutsch | passiv |
| Italiano | passivo |
| Română | pasiv, zână |
| Русский | пасси́в passív, пасси́вный passívnyj, ни́жний nížnij |
| العربية | سَالِب sālib |
| עברית | פָּסִיבִי pasívi, פַּס pas |
noun lowest part of a container
| 日本語 | 底 soko |
|---|
noun valley
| हिन्दी | घाटी ghāṭī |
|---|
noun euphemistic: buttocks or anus
| Español | culo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 궁둥이 gungdung'i, 똥구멍 ttonggumeong |
| हिन्दी | नितंब nitamb, पिछवाड़ा pichvāṛā, चूतड़ cūtaṛ |
| Português | cu, fundilho |
| Français | arrière-train, cul, derrière, popotin, potron, séant |
| Italiano | sedere |
| Ελληνικά | πισινός pisinós |
| Română | cur, fund, șezut, dos |
| Русский | зад zad, по́па pópa |
| עברית | תחת takhat, ישבן |
noun ball or skein of thread; a cocoon
| 日本語 | 裏 ura |
|---|
Talk about this word "bottom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bottom. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. bottom. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bottom "bottom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bottom.Cite this
@misc{bottom_2026,
title = {bottom},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bottom},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
