The word butte comes from a French word meaning small hill; its use is prevalent in the Western United States, including the southwest, where mesa is also used for the larger landform.Because of their distinctive shapes, buttes are frequently landmarks in plains and mountainous areas.n many cases, buttes have been given other names that do not use the word butte, for example, Courthouse Rock, Nebraska. Also, some large hills that are technically not buttes have names using the word butte, examples of which are Kamiak Butte and Chelan Butte in Washington State.