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bottom.

The lowest part of anything.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbɒt.əm/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɑ.təm/Atlantic-Canada, General-American[ˈbɑ.ɾəm]Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈbɒt.əm/Canada, dialectal
  1. The lowest part of anything.

    countable · uncountable
    Footers appear at the bottoms of pages.
  2. The lowest part of anything. The lowest or last position in a rank.

    countable · uncountable
    The Red Sox are at the bottom again.
  3. The lowest part of anything. A garment worn to cover the body below the torso.

    countable · often · plural · uncountable
    There’s a hole in her pyjama bottoms.
  4. The lowest part of anything. The lowest part of a container.

    countable · figuratively · often · uncountable
  5. The lowest part of anything. Spirits poured into a glass before adding soda water.

    countable · uncountable
  6. The lowest part of anything. The second half of an inning, the home team's turn at bat.

    countable · uncountable
    bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, two outs
  7. The lowest part of anything. The bass or baritone instruments of a band.

    countable · uncountable
    a soda and a bottom of brandy
  8. The lowest part of anything. The working portion of a moldboard-style plow.

    countable · uncountable
    single-bottom plow
    three-bottom plow
  9. The remotest or innermost part of something.

    countable · uncountable
    There’s a fairy at the bottom of my garden.
    I walked to the bottom of the street.
  10. The fundamental part; a basic aspect.

    countable · uncountable
    get to the bottom of it
  11. Low-lying land; a valley or hollow.

    US · countable · uncountable
    Where shall we go for a walk? How about Ashcombe Bottom?
  12. Low-lying land near a river with alluvial soil.

    countable · plural-normally · uncountable
  13. The buttocks or anus.

    countable · euphemistic · uncountable
  14. The bed of a body of water.

    countable · uncountable
  15. An abyss.

    countable · uncountable
  16. A cargo vessel, a ship.

    countable · uncountable
  17. Certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.

    countable · uncountable
  18. A person who has a receptive role or has a preference for that role during intercourse.

    countable · slang
    James and Lukas would make a great couple if they weren't both bottoms.
  19. A person who has a receptive role or has a preference for that role during intercourse. A sexual submissive.

    broadly · colloquial · countable · slang
  20. Character, reliability, staying power, dignity, integrity or sound judgment.

    UK · slang · uncountable
    lack bottom
  21. Power of endurance.

    dated · uncountable
  22. A ball or skein of thread; a cocoon.

    countable · uncountable
  23. A trundle or spindle of thread.

    countable · rare · uncountable
  24. Dregs or grounds; lees; sediment.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  25. Ellipsis of bottom quark.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis · particle · uncountable
Where this word 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.

verb/ˈbɒt.əm/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɑ.təm/Atlantic-Canada, General-American[ˈbɑ.ɾəm]Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈbɒt.əm/Canada, dialectal
  1. To furnish (something) with a bottom.

    transitive
    to bottom a chair
  2. To pour spirits into (a glass to be topped up with soda water).

    transitive
  3. To wind (like a ball of thread etc.).

    obsolete
  4. To establish or found (something) on or upon.

    transitive
  5. To lie on the bottom of; to underlie, to lie beneath.

    transitive
  6. To be based or grounded.

    intransitive · obsolete
  7. To reach or strike against the bottom of something, so as to impede free action.

    intransitive
  8. To reach the bottom of something.

    transitive
  9. To fall to the lowest point.

  10. To be the submissive partner in a BDSM relationship.

    dated · intransitive
  11. To take on the receptive role during intercourse.

    intransitive
    I've never bottomed in my life.
Where this word 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.

adj/ˈbɒt.əm/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɑ.təm/Atlantic-Canada, General-American[ˈbɑ.ɾəm]Atlantic-Canada, General-American/ˈbɒt.əm/Canada, dialectal
  1. The lowest or last place or position.

    not-comparable
    Those files should go on the bottom shelf.
  2. Relating to the genitals.

    not-comparable
    bottom dysphoria
    bottom surgery
Where this word 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.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.