"but for" meaning in All languages combined

See but for on Wiktionary

Adjective [English]

Head templates: {{en-adj|-}} but for (not comparable)
  1. (law) Pertaining to a test of causation whereby an agent or action is considered to have caused an event (and therefore to be responsible and/or liable for said event) if, had said agent or action not existed, the event would not have taken place. Tags: not-comparable Categories (topical): Law Synonyms (legal term): but-for
    Sense id: en-but_for-en-adj-DBquzZtv Topics: law

Preposition [English]

Head templates: {{head|en|prepositions|head=}} but for, {{en-prep}} but for
  1. Except, except for; save for; not counting; were it not for. Translations (except for, were it not for): krom (Esperanto), murach (Irish)
    Sense id: en-but_for-en-prep-mGO97gtJ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English prepositions, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Esperanto translations, Terms with Irish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 40 57 3 Disambiguation of English prepositions: 20 57 23 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 35 56 9 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 39 57 4 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 36 60 3 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 30 62 7 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 30 56 14 Disambiguation of 'except for, were it not for': 98 2
  2. despite; in spite of
    Sense id: en-but_for-en-prep-9avmx2K7
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: there but for the grace of God go I
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          "text": "I once did lend my body for his wealth,\n Which, but for him that had your husband's ring,\n Had quite miscarried: […]",
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          "text": "She had a woman to take care of her called Mrs Poole — an able woman in her line, and very trustworthy, but for one fault — a fault common to a deal of them nurses and matrons — she kept a bottle of gin by her, and now and then took a drop over-much.",
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          "ref": "1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:",
          "text": "In the whole extent of the house, which but for the old woman remained otherwise empty, Mr. Hyde had only used a couple of rooms",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1945 March and April, “Higher speeds”, in Railway Magazine, page 67:",
          "text": "In reconditioning existing locomotives, carriages and wagons, it is intended to replace obsolete types which would have been scrapped but for the war and to embody the latest scientific improvements.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1992, Najīb Maḥfūẓ, Sugar Street, page 48:",
          "text": "But for the stinging cold of January, this Casanova would not have taken shelter behind the coffeehouse window, […].",
          "type": "quote"
        }
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        "Except, except for; save for; not counting; were it not for."
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          "except for",
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          "save for"
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      ],
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        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "except for, were it not for",
          "word": "krom"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "except for, were it not for",
          "word": "murach"
        }
      ]
    },
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        "despite; in spite of"
      ],
      "id": "en-but_for-en-prep-9avmx2K7",
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        [
          "despite",
          "despite"
        ],
        [
          "in spite of",
          "in spite of"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "but for"
}

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          "ref": "1985, Herbert Lionel Adolphus Hart, Tony Honoré, Causation in the Law, page xlv:",
          "text": "This relevance can in many cases, as here, be tested by the sine qua non or ‘but for’ rule.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Mark A. Glick, Lara A. Reymann, Richard Hoffman, Intellectual Property Damages: Guidelines and Analysis, Wiley, →ISBN, page 37:",
          "text": "When the expert constructs the \"but for\" world, he or she must construct it by taking into account how the plaintiff could have adjusted or did adjust to the changed circumstances.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2003, A. P. Simester, G. R. Sullivan, Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine, page 71:",
          "text": "But it is important to realise that but for causation is no more than indicative of true legal causation.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Tal Becker, Terrorism and the State: Rethinking the Rules of State Responsibility, page 291:",
          "text": "But in important ways the ‘but for’ test obscures the true role played by causal principles in assessing legal responsibility.",
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        "(law) Pertaining to a test of causation whereby an agent or action is considered to have caused an event (and therefore to be responsible and/or liable for said event) if, had said agent or action not existed, the event would not have taken place."
      ],
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          "text": "She had a woman to take care of her called Mrs Poole — an able woman in her line, and very trustworthy, but for one fault — a fault common to a deal of them nurses and matrons — she kept a bottle of gin by her, and now and then took a drop over-much.",
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          "ref": "1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:",
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        {
          "ref": "1945 March and April, “Higher speeds”, in Railway Magazine, page 67:",
          "text": "In reconditioning existing locomotives, carriages and wagons, it is intended to replace obsolete types which would have been scrapped but for the war and to embody the latest scientific improvements.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
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          "ref": "1992, Najīb Maḥfūẓ, Sugar Street, page 48:",
          "text": "But for the stinging cold of January, this Casanova would not have taken shelter behind the coffeehouse window, […].",
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      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "except for, were it not for",
      "word": "krom"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "except for, were it not for",
      "word": "murach"
    }
  ],
  "word": "but for"
}

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          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003, Mark A. Glick, Lara A. Reymann, Richard Hoffman, Intellectual Property Damages: Guidelines and Analysis, Wiley, →ISBN, page 37:",
          "text": "When the expert constructs the \"but for\" world, he or she must construct it by taking into account how the plaintiff could have adjusted or did adjust to the changed circumstances.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2003, A. P. Simester, G. R. Sullivan, Criminal Law: Theory and Doctrine, page 71:",
          "text": "But it is important to realise that but for causation is no more than indicative of true legal causation.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Tal Becker, Terrorism and the State: Rethinking the Rules of State Responsibility, page 291:",
          "text": "But in important ways the ‘but for’ test obscures the true role played by causal principles in assessing legal responsibility.",
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      "glosses": [
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      "word": "but-for"
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  "word": "but for"
}

Download raw JSONL data for but for meaning in All languages combined (5.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.