• Finnish: nänni

• Finnish: kärkihylsy

• ttbc Catalan: botó
• ttbc Dutch: knop (2), badge (3)
• ttbc Esperanto: butono
• ttbc French: bouton (2), badge (3)
• ttbc Galician: botón
• ttbc Gujarati: બુતાન (butāna)
• ttbc Hebrew: כפתור (kaftor) (2,3,4)
• ttbc Hindi: बटन (baṭana)
• ttbc Ido: butono
• ttbc Indonesian: kancing, tombol
• ttbc Italian: bottone , tasto
• ttbc Korean: 단추 (danchu) (2,3), 버튼 (2)
• ttbc Portuguese: botão (2)
• ttbc Punjabi: ਬਟਣ (baṭaṇa)
• ttbc Spanish: botón
• ttbc Swedish: knapp (2), pin (3), brosch (3), märkesnål (3)
• ttbc Tagalog: butones
• ttbc Telugu: గుండీ (gundee), బొత్తాము (bottaamu)
• ttbc Ukrainian: ґудзик (gúdzyk) (1), кнопка (knopka) (2), клавіша (kláviša) (3)
• ttbc Welsh: botum

See also

• switch
• toggle
• trigger

Verb

1. To fasten with a button.

Translations

Derived terms

• button one's lip
• button up
• unbutton

In clothing and fashion design, a button is a small plastic or metal disc- or knob-shaped, typically round, object usually attached to an article of clothing in order to secure an opening, or for ornamentation. Functional buttons work by slipping the button through a fabric or thread loop, or by sliding the button through a reinforced slit called a buttonhole.

Buttons may be manufactured from an extremely wide range of materials, including natural materials such as antler, bone, horn, ivory, shell, vegetable ivory, and wood; or synthetics such as celluloid, glass, metal, bakelite and plastic.

Hard plastic is by far the most common material for newly manufactured buttons; the other materials tend to occur only in premium apparel.

History

Buttons and button-like objects used as ornaments rather than fasteners have been discovered in the ancient Indus Valley during its Kot Dijy phase (circa 2800-2600 BC) and Bronze Age sites in China (circa 2000-1500 BC), and are attested in Ancient Rome. Functional buttons with buttonholes for fastening or closing clothing appeared first in Germany in the 13th century. They soon became widespread with the rise of snug-fitting garments in 13th- and 14th-century Europe.

Types of buttons

Functional buttons (as opposed to decorative buttons) are normally paired with a buttonhole. Alternately, a decorative loop of cloth or rope may replace the buttonhole. Buttonholes may be either made by hand sewing or automated by a sewing machine.

Buttonholes often have a bar at either end. This is a row of perpendicular hand or machine stitching to reinforce the ends of a buttonhole.

See also

• Snap fastener
• Zipper

References

• Carl Kohler, A History of Costume, Dover 1963 reprint, ISBN 0-486-21030-8
• Bryan Bunch, The History of Science and Technology, Houghton Mifflin Books, 2004 ISBN 0-618-22123-9

External links

• Worked button making in Dorset
• Types of Buttons
• Button seal
• Button-making in Birmingham, England in the 1800s
• Online button museum

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