Plural of butte; isolated hills or mountains with steep sides and a flat top, common in the American West.
From French butte (mound), from Old French, possibly from Frankish *butta. Borrowed into English to describe the distinctive landforms of the American Southwest.
Monument Valley's famous buttes were named by French trappers, and the term stuck—it's one of few geological terms we borrowed from French, showing how American geography was described through European eyes.
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