Butte

In geomorphology, a butte ( BEWT) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word butte comes from the French word butte (French: [byt]), meaning 'knoll' (of any size); its use is prevalent in the Western United States, including the Southwest, where mesa (Spanish for 'table') is used for the larger landform. Due to their distinctive shapes, buttes are frequently landmarks in plains...