meaning in context - Specific usage of the word 'but'


The Aesop's Fables translated by George Fyler Townsend book has a line which reads as follows:



... If you had but touched me, my friend, you ...



I've seen the word 'but' used this way a couple of times, but I'm not sure I understand the meaning of this phrase correctly. What is the general rule for using 'but' this way?



Answer



In the fragment



... If you had but touched me, my friend, you ...



but functions as an adverb whose definition, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd Edition) is



no more than; only



Thus, your example could very well read




  • ... If only you had touched me, my friend, you ...



Other examples:




  • I am but a mere mortal.

  • He is but a child.

  • That was but a distant memory.



This usage of but, though, is largely restricted to formal or literary contexts.


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