See also:

• BUTTON (Fr. bouton, O. Fr. boton, apparently from the same root as bouter, to push)

BUTTON (Fr. bouton, O. Fr. boton, apparently from the same See also:

• ROOT (late O.E. rot, adopted from Scand., cf. Norw. and Swed. rot, Dan. rod; the true O.E. word was wyrt, plant, represented in Ger. Wurz or Wurzel; the ultimate root is the same in both words, and is seen in Lat. radix)
• ROOT, ELIHU (1845– )

root as bouter, to push)  , a small piece of See also:

• METAL
• METAL (through Fr. from Lat. metallum, mine, quarry, adapted from Gr. µATaXAov, in the same sense, probably connected with ,ueraAAdv, to search after, explore, µeTa, after, aAAos, other)

metal or other material which, pushed through a See also:

• LOOP

loop or See also:

• BUTTON (Fr. bouton, O. Fr. boton, apparently from the same root as bouter, to push)

button-hole, serves as a catch between different parts of a garment, &c . The word is also used of other See also:

• OBJECTS

objects which have a projecting knob-like See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, e.g. button-mushrooms, the button of an electric See also:

• BELL
• BELL, ALEXANDER MELVILLE (1819—1905)
• BELL, ANDREW (1753—1832)
• BELL, GEORGE JOSEPH (1770-1843)
• BELL, HENRY (1767-1830)
• BELL, HENRY GLASSFORD (1803-1874)
• BELL, JACOB (1810-1859)
• BELL, JOHN (1691-178o)
• BELL, JOHN (1763-1820)
• BELL, JOHN (1797-1869)
• BELL, ROBERT (1800-1867)
• BELL, SIR CHARLES (1774—1842)

bell-push, or the guard at the tip of a See also:

• FENCING

fencing See also:

• FOIL

foil; or which resemble a button in See also:

• SIZE

size and shape, as the button of metal obtained in See also:

• ASSAYING

assaying operations . At first buttons were apparently used for purposes of ornamentation; in Piers Plowman (1377) mention is made of a See also:

• KNIFE (0. E. cuff, a word appearing in different forms in many Teutonic languages, cf. Du. knijf, Ger. Kneif, a shoe-maker's knife, Swed. knif; the ultimate origin is unknown; Skeat finds the origin in the root of " nip," formerly " knip "; Fr. canif is a

knife with " botones ouergylte," and in See also:

• LORD
• LORD (O. Eng. hldford, i.e. hldfweard, the warder or keeper of bread, hlIf, loaf; the word is not represented in any other Teutonic language)
• LORD, JOHN (1810-1894)

Lord Berner's See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation of See also:

• FROISSART, JEAN (1338-1410?)

Froissart's See also:

• CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

Chronicles (1525) of a See also:

• BOOK

book covered with See also:

• CRIMSON

crimson See also:

• VELVET

velvet with " ten botons of syluer and gylte." While this use has continued, especially in connexion with See also:

• WOMEN

women's See also:

• DRESS (from the Fr. dresser, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat. directus, arranged, dirigere, to direct, arrange)

dress, they began to be employed as fastenings at least as See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early as the 15th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century . As a See also:

• TERM

term of comparison for some-thing trivial or worthless, the word is found in the 14th century . Buttons of distinctive See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour or See also:

• PATTERN

pattern, or bearing a portrait or See also:

• MOTTO (an Italian word, from Late Lat. muttum, a low sound, a mutter or murmur, cf. mutere, to mutter; the Latin word also gives Fr. mot, word)

motto, are often worn, especially in the See also:

• UNITED

United States, as a decoration, or sign of membership of a society or of adherence to a See also:

• POLITICAL

political party; among the most honoured of such buttons are those worn by members of the military See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order of the Loyal See also:

• LEGION (Lat. legio)

Legion of the United States, organized in 1865 by See also:

• OFFICERS

officers who had fought in the See also:

• CIVIL

Civil See also:

• WAR
• WAR (O. Eng. werre, Fr. guerre, of Teutonic origin; cf. O.H.G. werran, to confound)

War . See also:

• CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese officials See also:

• WEAR

wear a button or knob on their hats as a See also:

• MARK
• MARK, CARL (1858– )
• MARK, GOSPEL OF ST
• MARK, ST

mark of See also:

• RANK (O.Fr. rant or rent, mod. rang, generally connected with the O.E. and O.H.G. bring, a ring)

rank, the grade being denoted by its colour and material (see See also:

• MANDARIN

MANDARIN) . Many varieties of buttons are used on clothing, but they may be divided into two See also:

• MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in " may " and " might," and Lat. magnus, great)
• MAIN (Lat. Moenus)

main classes according to the arrangement by which they are attached to the garment; in one class they are provided with a shank which may consist of a metal loop or of a tuft of See also:

• CLOTH

cloth or similar material, while in the other they are pierced with holes through which are passed threads . To these two classes roughly correspond two broad See also:

• DIFFERENCES, CALCULUS OF (Theory of Finite Differences)

differences in the method of manufacture, according as the buttons are composite and made up of two or more pieces, or are simply shaped disks of a single material; some composite buttons, however, are provided with holes, and See also:

• SIMPLE

simple metal buttons sometimes have metal shanks soldered or riveted on them . From an early See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period buttons of the former See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind were made by See also:

• NEEDLEWORK

needlework with the aid of a See also:

• MOULD

mould or former, but about 1807 B . See also:

• SANDERS, DANIEL (1819-1896)
• SANDERS, NICHOLAS (c. 1530-1581)

Sanders, a Dane who had been ruined by the See also:

• BOMBARDMENT

bombardment of See also:

• COPENHAGEN (Danish Kjobenhavn)

Copenhagen, introduced an improved method of manufacturing them at See also:

• BIRMINGHAM

Birmingham . His buttons were formed of two disks of metal locked together by having their edges turned back on each other and enclosing a filling of cloth or pasteboard; and by methods of this kind, carried out by elaborate automatic machinery, buttons are readily produced, presenting faces of See also:

• SILK

silk, See also:

• MOHAIR

mohair, See also:

• BROCADE

brocade or other material required to harmonize with the fabric on which they are used . Sanders's buttons at first had metal shanks, but about 1825 his son invented flexible shanks of See also:

• CANVAS

canvas or other substance through which the See also:

• NEEDLE (O. Eng. ncedl; the word appears in various forms in Teutonic languages, Ger. Nadel, Dutch naal, the root being ne-, to sew, cf. Ger. nahen, and probably Lat. nere, to spin, Gr. vi)ats, spinning)

needle could pass freely in any direction .

The See also:

• MECHANICAL

mechanical manufacture of covered buttons was started in the United States in 1827 by See also:

• SAMUEL

Samuel Williston, of See also:

• EASTHAMPTON

Easthampton, See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

Mass., who in 1834 joined forces with See also:

• JOEL
• JOEL, MANUEL (1826–189o)

Joel and See also:

• JOSIAH (Heb. yo' shiyydhu, perhaps " Yah [weh] supports ")

Josiah See also:

• HAYDEN, FERDINAND VANDEVEER (1829–1887)

Hayden, of Haydenville . The number of materials that have been used for making buttons is very large—metals such as See also:

• BRASS
• BRASS (O. Eng. braes)

brass and See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron for the cheaper kinds, and for more expensive ones, See also:

• GOLD
• GOLD [symbol Au, atomic weight 195.7(H = 1),197.2(0 =16)]

gold and See also:

• SILVER

silver, sometimes ornamented with jewels, See also:

• FILIGREE (formerly written filigrann or filigrane; the Ital. filigrana, Fr. filigrane, Span. filigrana, Ger. Drahtgefiecht)

filigree See also:

• WORK

work, &c.; See also:

• IVORY (Fr. ivoire, Lat. ebur)
• IVORY, SIR JAMES (1765-1842)

ivory, See also:

• HORN
• HORN (a common Teutonic word, cognate with Lat. cornu; cf. Gr. Kipas)
• HORN (Lat. cornu; corresponding terms being Fr. cor, trompe; Ger. Horn; Ital. corno)
• HORN, ARVID BERNHARD, COUNT (1664-1742)
• HORN, PHILIP DE MONTMORENCY, COUNT

horn, See also:

• BONE (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages, in many of which it is confined to the shank of the leg, as in the German Bein)
• BONE, HENRY (1755-1834)

bone and See also:

• MOTHER

mother-of-See also:

• PEARL
• PEARL, THE

pearl or other nacreous products of See also:

• SHELL
• SHELL (O. Eng. scell, scyll, cf. Du. sceel, shell, Goth. skalja, tile; the word means originally a thin flake,. cf. Swed. skalja, to peel off; it is allied to " scale " and " skill," from a root meaning to cleave, divide, separate)

shell-See also:

• FISH (O. Eng. fist, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch visch, Ger. Fisch, Goth. fisks, cognate with the Lat. piscis)
• FISH, HAMILTON (1808-1893)

fish; See also:

• VEGETABLE

vegetable ivory and See also:

• WOOD, ANTHONY A2 (1632-1695)
• WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827—1889)
• WOOD, MRS HENRY [ELLEN] (1814—1887)
• WOOD, SEARLES VALENTINE (1798—188o)

wood; See also:

• GLASS
• GLASS (O.E. glees, cf. Ger. Glas, perhaps derived from an old Teutonic root gla-, a variant of glo-, having the general sense of shining, cf. " glare," " glow ")
• GLASS, STAINED

glass, See also:

• PORCELAIN

porcelain, See also:

• PAPER
• PAPER (Fr. papier, from Lat. papyrus)

paper, celluloid and artificial compositions; and even the casein of See also:

• MILK (0. Eng. meoluc; from a common Indo-European root, cf. Lat. mulgere, Gr. ?t dXyetv)

milk, and See also:

• BLOOD

blood . Brass buttons were made at Birmingham in 1689, and in the following century the metal button See also:

• INDUSTRY (Lat. industria, from indu-, a form of the pre, position in, and either stare, to stand, or struere, to pile up)

industry underwent considerable development in that See also:

• CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city . See also:

• MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF ST
• MATTHEW, ST (MaOOaior or MarOaIos, probably a shortened form of the Hebrew equivalent to Theodorus)
• MATTHEW, TOBIAS

Matthew See also:

• BOULTON, MATTHEW (1728-1809)

Boulton the See also:

• ELDER (0. Eng. ellarn; Ger. Holunder; Fr. sureau)
• ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)

elder, about 1745, introduced See also:

• GREAT

great improvements in the processes of manufacture, and when his son started the Soho See also:

• WORKS

works in 1767 one of the departments was devoted to the See also:

• PRODUCTION (Lat. productionem, from producere, to pro-duce)

production of See also:

• STEEL, FLORA ANNIE (1847– )

steel buttons with facets, some of which sold for 140 guineas a See also:

• GROSS

gross . Gilt buttons also came into See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion about the same period . In this " Augustan See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age " of the Birmingham button industry, when there was a large export See also:

• TRADE (O. Eng. trod, footstep, from tredan, to tread; in M. Eng. the forms teed, trod and trade appear, the last in the sense of a beaten track)
• TRADE, BOARD OF

trade, the profits891 of manufacturers who worked on only a modest See also:

• SCALE
• SCALE (1) A

scale amounted to £3000 and £4000 a See also:

• YEAR

year, and workmen earned from £2 to £4 a See also:

• WEEK (from A.S. wicu, Germanic *wikon, probably=change, turn)

week . At one See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time the buttons had each to be fashioned separately by skilled artisans, but gradually the cost of production was lessened by the See also:

• ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

adoption of mechanical processes, and instead of being turned out singly and engraved or otherwise ornamented by See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, they came to be stamped out in See also:

• DIES, CHRISTOPH ALBERT (1755-1822)

dies which at once shape them and impress them with the desired pattern . Ivory buttons are among the See also:

• OLDEST

oldest of all . Horn buttons were made at Birmingham at least by 1777; towards the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the 19th century Emile Bassot invented a widely-used See also:

• PROCESS

process for producing them from the hoofs of See also:

• CATTLE (Norman Fr. catel, from Late Lat. capitale, wealth or property, a word applied in the feudal system to movable property and particularly to live stock, and surviving in its wider meaning as " chattel " or " chattle ")

cattle, which were softened by boiling . Pearl buttons are made from pearl See also:

• OYSTER

oyster shells obtained from various parts of the See also:

• WORLD

world, and after being cut out by tubular drills are shaped and polished by machinery . Buttons of vegetable ivory can be readily dyed . Glass buttons are especially made in Bohemia, as also are those of porcelain, which were invented about 184o by an Englishman, R .

Prosser of Birmingham . In the -United States few buttons were made until the beginning of the 19th century, when the manufacture of metal buttons was started at See also:

• WATERBURY

Waterbury, See also:

• CONN
• CONN, LOUGH

Conn., which is now the centre of that industry . In 1812 See also:

• AARON

Aaron See also:

• BENEDICT (BENEDICTUS)
• BENEDICT, SIR JULIUS (1804-1885)

Benedict began to make ivory and horn buttons at the same See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place . Buttons of vegetable ivory, now one of the most important branches of the See also:

• AMERICAN

American button industry, were first made at See also:

• LEEDS
• LEEDS, THOMAS OSBORNE

Leeds, Mass., in 1859 by an Englishman, A . W . Critchlow, and in 1875 commercial success was attained in the production of See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition buttons at See also:

• SPRINGFIELD

Springfield, Mass . Pearl buttons were made on a small scale in 1855, but their manufacture received an enormous impetus in the last See also:

• DECADE (from Gr. Oka, ten)

decade of the 19th century, when J . F . Boepple began, at See also:

• MUSCATINE

Muscatine, See also:

• IOWA

Iowa, to utilize the unio or " niggerhead " shells found along the See also:

• MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi . By 1905 the See also:

• ANNUAL

annual output of these "fresh-See also:

• WATER

water pearl" buttons had reached 11,405,723 gross, See also:

• WORTH
• WORTH, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825-1895)

worth $3,359,167, or 36.6% of the See also:

• TOTAL

total value of the buttons produced in the United States . In the same year the mother-of-pearl buttons (" ocean pearl buttons ") numbered 1,737,830 gross, worth $1,511,107, and the two kinds together constituted 44% of the number, and 53.9% of the value, of the button manufactures of the United States . (See U.S.A .

See also:

• CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

Census Reports, 1900, Manufactures, See also:

• PART

part iii. pp .