BUT'MENT, noun 1. A buttress of an arch; the supporter, or that part which joins it to the upright pier. 2. The mass of stone or solid work at the end of a bridge, by which the extreme arches are sustained. The mass of stone at the end of a timber bridge, without arches, is called by the same name. It is written also abutment.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI