"P" Word Origins

piranha

Spanish · 1869

Borrowed into English by 1869 from Portuguese piranha or Spanish piraña, which trace back to the Old Tupi word pirãîa.

pirate

Latin

From Old French pirate, from Latin pirata, from Greek peiratēs, related to peira ("attempt, trial"). It replaced the native Old English word wicing, which originally covered both "pirate" and "viking".

pirogue

Origin

From French pirogue, in turn from Spanish piragua, from Kari'na piraua. Doublet of periagua.

pirouette

French · 1706

Borrowed from French pirouette, in use in English since around 1706.

Pisa

Latin

From Italian Pisa, from Latin Pīsae, of Etruscan origin.

Pisces

Latin

From Latin pisces ("fish"), the plural of piscis, translating the Greek name for the same constellation.

piscicapture

Origin

From pisci- + capture.

pish

Origin

An expressive, imitative interjection, possibly related to Scots pish ("piss").

piss

Old French

From Middle English pisse/pissen, from Old French pissier, likely of imitative origin — it replaced the Old English word micge.

pissant

Origin

From piss + ant, apparently referencing the sharp, urine-like smell given off by anthills.

pissed

Middle English

From Middle English pissed, pissede, pyssyd, pisside, equivalent to piss + -ed.

pisser

Middle English

From Middle English pissere; equivalent to piss + -er (agent noun). The sense referring to a urinal formed from piss + -er (patient suffix).

pissy

Origin

From piss + -y.

pistachio

Latin

From Italian pistacchio, from Latin pistacium, from Greek pistakion, ultimately of Iranian origin — related to Persian peste.

pistol

Middle French

Probably from Middle French pistole or pistolet ("small firearm or dagger"); the exact chain is uncertain, with theories tracing it either through German and Czech píšťala ("pipe, firearm") or from Italian pistolese, linked to the gunsmithing town of Pistoia.

piston

French

Borrowed from French piston.

pit

Latin

From Old English pytt, from Proto-West Germanic *puti, ultimately from Latin puteus ("trench, pit, well").

pita

Greek

From Greek pita ("pie"), related to the word "pizza".

pitch

Latin

From Old English pic ("tar, pitch"), from Latin pix, related to Greek pissa. The sense of throwing or setting up developed separately in Middle English, and "pitch-black" (from the tar) later gave rise to the adjective meaning "very dark".

pitcher

Origin

From pitch + -er.

pitchfork

Middle English

From Middle English pichfork, formed from pitch (in the sense "to throw or toss") + fork.

pitchman

Origin

From pitch + man.

pitchy

Origin

From Middle English pycchy, pychy, equivalent to pitch + -y.

piteous

Origin

From Middle English pitous, from Old French piteus, pitus.

pitfall

Origin

First recorded use in the 14th century from pit + fall in the sense of "pit trap, pit snare", from Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-. Cognate with German Falle (“trap, snare”).

pitfalls

English

From Middle English pit + fall, originally a concealed pit dug as a trap for animals; the figurative sense of a hidden danger followed.

pith

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English pith, pithe (“soft interior; pith, pulp”) [and other forms], from Old English piþa [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *piþô, from earlier *piþō (oblique *pittan); further etymology unknown. Doublet of pit (“seed or stone inside a fruit”). The verb Middle English pethen (“to give courage or strength”), derived from the noun pith (noun), did not survive into modern English. Cognates * Dutch peen (“carrot”) * Middle Low German peddek, peddik, piddek (“bone marrow; medulla; spinal cord; inner part of a horn or quill; (figurative) core, essence”) (the last spelling rare) (Low German Peddik (“core; pulp”)) * West Frisian piid (“pulp, kernel”)

pithy

Middle English

From Middle English pithy, from pith ("core, essence") + -y.

piti

Origin

From Azerbaijani piti, related to a similar word in Armenian for a clay cooking pot.

pitiable

Old French

From Old French piteable, from pity + -able.

pitiful

Middle English

From Middle English pityful, formed from pity + -ful.

pitiless

Middle English

From Middle English piteeles, from pity + -less.

pitisome

Origin

From pity + -some.

pittance

Medieval Latin

From Old French pitance, from Medieval Latin pietantia, related to Latin pietas ("piety") — originally referring to a small charitable food allowance given to monks.

Pittsburgh

Origin

From Pitt + "-burgh" ("fortified place"), named after British statesman William Pitt the Elder.

pituitary

Latin

From Latin pituitarius, "mucous," because early anatomists wrongly believed the gland's job was to drain mucus to the nose.

pity

Latin

From Old French pité, itself from Latin pietas ("dutifulness, piety") — pity and piety are historical twins from the same Latin root.

pivot

Latin

From Old French pivot, "hinge pin," possibly traced back to a Latin word for a pointed object.

pivotal

Origin

From "pivot" plus the adjective suffix "-al" — literally, something a situation turns on.

Pixar

Spanish

A coined, faux-Spanish word intended to mean "to make pictures".

pixel

Origin · 1960

A blend of "pic(ture)" and "element" — first used in the 1960s.

Pixie

Origin

Uncertain; 17thC, originally in the folklore of southwest England; perhaps diminutive of dialectal Swedish pysk (“fairy”), though the transmission of a Swedish dialect term to southwest Britain is unexplained; perhaps Puck (“Robin Goodfellow”) + -sy; see Wikipedia.

pixilated

Origin

From pixie, with ending as in titillated.

Pizarro

Spanish

Borrowed from Spanish Pizarro.

pizza

Ancient Greek · 1931

Borrowed into English in 1931 from Neapolitan Italian pizza, a word of much-debated origin possibly going back to an ancient Greek word for a flatbread or cake.

pizzazz

Origin · 1930

Likely coined as American slang, possibly in showbusiness circles, and spread by a 1930s fashion magazine.

pizzeria

Italian

Borrowed from Italian pizzeria, from pizza plus the suffix -eria (matching English "-ery").

pizzle

Origin

From Dutch Low Saxon pesel or West Flemish pezel, diminutive of Middle Dutch pese (“a sinew, tendon, string, pizzle”), from Old Dutch *pisa (“sinew, string, fibre”), possibly ultimately related to vezel (“fiber”), from Proto-West Germanic *fas-il-, from Proto-Indo-European *pē̆s- (“to blow”) (see Old High German faso (“fiber”)); in which case this alternation *pes- / *fes- may indicate a repeated borrowing from a (non-Indo-European?) substrate language. Cognate with Dutch pees, Middle Low German pese (“tendon, bowstring”), Dutch pees (“sinew, tendon”), German Low German Peserick, Pesel (“pizzle”), dialectal German Pisel (“penis”).