but (bŭt), preposition, adverb or conjunction [OE. bute, buten, AS. būtan, without, on the outside, except, besides; pref. be- + ūtan outward, without, fr. ūt out. Primarily, būtan, as well as ūt, is an adverb. √198. See By, Out; cf. About.] 1. Except with; unless with; without. [Obs.]

1. A particle which expresses the relation of connection or addition. It is used to conjoin a word with a word, a clause with a clause, or a sentence with a sentence. (a) It is sometimes used emphatically; as, “there are women and women,” that is, two very different sorts of women. (b) By a rhetorical figure, notions, one of which is modificatory of the other, are connected by and; as, “the tediousness and process of my travel,” that is, the tedious process, etc.; “thy fair and outward character,” that is, thy outwardly fair character, Schmidt’s Shak. Lex.2. In order to; – used instead of the infinitival to, especially after try, come, go.

2. In order to; – used instead of the infinitival to, especially after try, come, go.

At least to try and teach the erring soul. Milton.

3. It is sometimes, in old songs, a mere expletive.

When that I was and a little tiny boy. Shak.

4. If; though. See An, conjunction [Obs.] Chaucer.

As they will set an house on fire, and it were but to roast their eggs. Bacon.

And so forth

and others; and the rest; and similar things; and other things or ingredients. The abbreviation, etc. (et cetera), or &c., is usually read and so forth.

-- Webster's unabridged 1913