Abutter

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈbʌ.tɚ/

Definitions

1. Being positioned side by side with another entity or structure
2. Located directly adjacent to or sharing a common border with something else
3. Placed in close contact beside another object or area without any gap

Etymology: An abutter is someone whose land touches yours, a neighbour along a shared boundary. The word is simply "abut" with the agent suffix "-er" added, and the suffix itself has a long pedigree: it passed from Latin "-arius" through Old French "-ier" and reached English as Middle English "-er" alongside the native Old English "-ere", so the ending is far older than the verb it sits on. "Abut" is the older and more important word. It comes from Old French "abouter", meaning to join at the end or to touch end to end, built from "a-" and "bout", a word for an end or extremity. The sense of a thing pressing against a neighbour is the core of the verb, and "abutter" follows naturally from it: the people who share a boundary are the ones whose ends meet.