"P" Word Origins

pea

Origin

"Pea" is actually a back-formation: the older word "pease" (as in the nursery rhyme "pease pudding") was originally both singular and plural, but people mistook the "s" for a plural ending and invented a new singular, "pea".

Peabody

Middle English

From Middle English Pebody, equivalent to pea (“peacock”) + body (“body, person”).

peabrain

Origin

From pea + brain; compare pea-sized.

peace

Latin

From Old French pais/paix, ultimately from Latin pax ("peace") — the same root that gives us "pact" and "pacify".

peaceable

Origin

From Anglo-Norman pesible, peisible, Middle French paisible, from pais (“peace”) + -ible; later remodelled after peace + -able.

peaceful

Middle English

From Middle English peseful, built from peace + the suffix -ful ("full of").

peacefully

Middle English

From Middle English peesfully, peasfullie, paisfulike, paisfullic, equivalent to peaceful + -ly.

peacekeeper

Origin

A straightforward compound of peace + keeper.

peacekeeping

Origin

From peace + keeping, echoing the phrase "keep the peace".

peacemaker

Latin · 1526

A compound of peace + maker, first recorded in the 1526 Tyndale Bible translating a rare Greek word for "peacemaker" used in the New Testament.

peacemaking

Origin

From peace + making.

peacen

Origin

From peace + -en.

peacetime

Origin

From peace + time.

peach

Latin

The peach traveled west along the Silk Road from Persia, and its name reflects that journey — it comes ultimately from a Latin phrase meaning "Persian apple", via Old French pesche.

peacher

Origin

From peach + -er.

peacock

Latin

From Middle English pecok, combining pea (an old word for peafowl, from Latin pavo) with cock ("male bird").

peafowl

Origin

From pea (“peacock”) + fowl. Compare Icelandic páfugl (“peafowl”), Swedish påfågel (“peafowl”), Danish påfugl (“peafowl”).

peak

Old English

From an older form related to "pike" — the same root that gives us the weapon and the sharp fish — ultimately from Old English pīc meaning "a sharp point".

peaked

Origin

See peak (Etymology 2).

peaker

Origin

From peak + -er.

peaky

Origin

From peak + the adjective suffix -y.

peal

Old French

A shortened form of Middle English apel/appel, ultimately from Old French apel ("an appeal, or a ringing of bells") — related to the word "appeal".

peanut

Origin

A compound of pea + nut, likely reshaping an earlier word (pinda) borrowed via West African languages.

pear

Vulgar Latin

From Old English pere, ultimately borrowed from Vulgar Latin pira — the word likely traces back to an unknown Mediterranean language rather than an Indo-European root.

Pearce

Origin

From Piers, the medieval vernacular form of Peter.

pearl

Latin

From Old French perle, of uncertain origin — possibly linked to Latin perna ("a leg-shaped shellfish") or perula ("little bag"). The surfing sense comes from the resemblance to a pearl diver disappearing underwater.

pearly

Origin

From pearl + the adjective suffix -y.

Pears

Origin

A variant of Piers.

pearson

Origin

From Piers + -son.

peasant

Latin

From Old French païsant ("countryman"), from païs ("country, region"), ultimately from Latin pāgus ("rural district") — the same root as "pagan".

pease

Old French

From Anglo-Norman and Old French forms related to "appease" — it shares the same root as the modern word, just with the prefix worn away over time.

peasy

Origin

Formed from "pea" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-y".

peat

Origin

Of uncertain origin, possibly from an old Celtic word meaning "portion" or "piece" — which would make it distantly related to the word "piece".

pebble

Old English

From Old English papolstān ("pebble-stone"), of uncertain deeper origin.

pecan

French

Borrowed from French pacane, itself from an Algonquian word for a hard-shelled nut.

peccadillo

Origin

From Spanish pecadillo, diminutive form of pecado (“sin”), from Latin peccatum (“sin, error, fault”), from peccō (“to sin, offend”).

peck

Middle English

From Middle English pecken, a variant of picken ("to pick" with a pointed tool) — related to "pick".

peckerhead

Origin

From pecker + head, from pecker (“penis”).

Peckham

Old English

Likely from Old English words for "peak" and "homestead" — probably named for the nearby River Peck.

peckish

Origin · 1700

From peck (verb) + -ish, first recorded in the late 18th century.

Pecos

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Pecos, from a Keresan term for the Pecos Pueblo.

pecs

Latin

A shortening of pectorals, from Latin pectoralis, from pectus meaning 'chest'.

pectoral

Origin

All senses are ultimately from Latin pectorālis, but some may have come through Old French and Middle English.

pectus

Origin

Borrowed from Latin pectus.

peculation

Origin

From Latin pecūlātiō (“embezzlement”) from pecūlor (“to defraud the public”), related to pecūlium (“property in cattle, private property”), from pecū (“cattle, money”).

peculator

Origin

From Latin pecūlātor (“embezzler”), from Latin pecūlor (“to embezzle”), from Latin pecūlium (“private property”).

peculiar

Latin

From Latin pecūliāris ("one's own property"), from pecūlium ("private property"), ultimately from pecus ("cattle") — livestock once being a measure of personal wealth.

pecuniarily

Origin

From pecuniary + -ly.