Happy Pride month! It's also Shakespeare season, and I had butts on the brain, so although our local Shakespeare in the Park is performing Twelfth Night, here's a little Midsummer Night's Dream:
BOTTOM
I see their knavery. This is to make an ass of
me, to fright me, if they could. But I will not stir
from this place, do what they can. I will walk up
and down here, and I will sing, that they shall hear
I am not afraid.
1ass \'as, 'aa(ə)s, 'ais also 'ȧs in NE & Brit esp (in Brit at least) in sense 2\ n -es [ME asse, fr. OE assa, perh. fr. OIr asan, fr. L asinus, prob. fr. a language of Asia Minor; akin to the source of Gr onos ass] 1: any of several mammals of the genus Equus that are smaller than the horse, with a shorter mane and shorter hair on the tail, with long ears, and without callosities on the inner surface of the hind limbs, that are hardy and gregarious sure-footed natives of Asia and No. Africa, and of which one species (E. asinus) is the domestic ass, a rugged, patient, but somewhat stubborn beast of burden, made a popular symbol of obstinacy and stupidity — see kiang, mule 2: one that is utterly silly: a simple-minded fool often marked by stubbornness or stolidity <when they make ~es of themselves they do it in the grand style — Leonard Bacon>
4ass or arse \in the US 'as, 'aa(e)s, 'ais also 'ȧs, and sometimes 'ärs euphemistically by speakers who have preconsonantal r and who are aware that there is a spelling "arse"; 'ȧs in standard Brit and 'ȧ(r)s or 'ärs or 'ārs or 'ers in Brit and Scot dialect; in the US the pronunc 'ȧs occurs chiefly in NE and is there prob more often associated with the spelling "ass" than with "arse"\ n -es [ME ars, ers, fr. OE ærs, ears; akin to OHG & ON ars buttocks, Gk orrhos, Arm oṙ, Hitt arraš, OIr err tail] 1 a: buttocks, rump — often considered vulgar b: anus — often considered vulgar 2 dial Brit: the lower or rear end of anything: bottom 3: sexual intercourse — usu. considered vulgar
from Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged, 1981, Volume 1, p. 130