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What does “un bouton” mean in French?

Un bouton is a button on a shirt or a machine, a bud on a plant (un bouton de rose), and — the sense learners rarely expect — a spot or pimple. Ça donne plein de boutons means “it brings you out in spots.” The thread joining all three is shape: small round things that push out of a flat surface.

The skin sense feeds a useful idiom: ça me donne des boutons means something makes your skin crawl — you are allergic to it, figuratively. De l’acné is the clinical word; un bouton is what people actually say. Two more from the same noun: appuyer sur le bouton (press the button) and un bouton d’or, a buttercup, back at the flower-bud end.