abutment

noun

1. Architecture, Civil Engineering.
   1. a masonry mass supporting and receiving the thrust of part of an arch or vault.
   2. a force that serves to abut an arch or vault.
   3. a mass, as of masonry, receiving the arch, beam, truss, etc., at each end of a bridge.
   4. a mass or structure for resisting the pressure of water on a bridge, pier, or the like.
   5. each of the parts of a canyon or the like receiving the thrusts of an arch dam.
   6. a structure for absorbing tensions from reinforcing strands for concrete being prestressed.
2. the place where projecting parts meet; junction.
3. Dentistry. a tooth or tooth root that supports or stabilizes a bridge, denture, or other prosthetic appliance.

noun

1. the state or process of abutting
2. 1. something that abuts
   2. the thing on which something abuts
   3. the point of junction between them
3. architect civil engineering a construction that takes the thrust of an arch or vault or supports the end of a bridge

n.

1640s, from abut + -ment. Originally any “junction;” the architectural usage is attested from 1793 (the notion is of the meeting-place of the arches of a bridge, etc.).

n.

1. A natural tooth or implanted tooth substitute used to support or anchor a dental prosthesis.