"P" Word Origins

plaza

Latin

Borrowed from Spanish plaza ("town square"), from Latin platea, ultimately from Greek plateia ("broad street"). A doublet of piazza and place.

plea

Medieval Latin

From Old French plait/plaid, from Medieval Latin placitum ("a decree" or "that which pleases"). Related to please and pleasure.

pleach

Origin

The verb is from Late Middle English pleshe, Middle English plechen, pleche (“to layer; to propagate (a plant) by layering, to pleach”), possibly from Anglo-Norman and Middle French plesser, plessier, Middle French plescer, variants of Middle French, Old French plaissier, plessier (“to plash”), from Late Latin *plaxus, from Latin plexus (“braided, plaited, woven; bent, twisted”), perfect passive participle of plectō (“to braid, plait, weave; to bend, turn, twist”). The noun is derived from the verb.

plead

Old French

From Old French plaider ("to plead"), from the same root as plea.

pleading

Origin

From plead + -ing.

pleasant

Old French

From Old French plaisant, ultimately from please + -ant. It largely replaced the older English word winsome in this sense.

pleasantly

Origin

From pleasant + -ly.

pleasantry

Origin

From pleasant + -ry, probably modelled on Middle French plaisanterie.

please

Latin

From Old French plaisir/plaire, from Latin placere ("to please, to seem good"). It displaced the older Old English word līcian, which survives today as "like."

pleased

Origin

From please + -ed.

pleasedness

Origin

From pleased + -ness.

pleasing

Origin

From please + -ing.

pleasurable

Origin

From pleasure + -able.

pleasure

Latin

From Old French plaisir/plesir, ultimately from Latin placere ("to please"). Closely related to please.

pleat

Middle English

A variant of plait, from Old French pleit, ultimately from Latin plicare meaning 'to fold'.

pleb

Origin

A clipping of plebeian and plebe, sometimes also understood as a back-formation from plebs.

plebe

Origin

From Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), probably via Middle French plebe (“plebeians, commoners, the rabble”) and possibly later understood as a clipping of plebeian. Cognate with Italian plebe, Spanish plebe, Portuguese plebe.

plebeian

Origin

From Latin plēbēius (“a commoner; common”) + -an (adjective-forming suffix), from Latin plēbēs + -ius (adjective-forming suffix), possibly under the influence of Middle French plebeyen, plebein, plebien (“a commoner”) and plebeien (“concerning the common people”). Cf. Medieval Latin plēbēiānus (“a commoner”), from plēbēius + -ānus.

plebiscite

Origin

Sense 1 (“referendum”) is borrowed from French plébiscite, from Latin plēbiscītum, plēbis scītum, plēbī scītum (“law of the common people or plebs”), from plēbis (the genitive singular of plēbs (“common people, plebeians”)) + scītum (“decree, ordinance, statute”). Sense 3 (“law enacted by the common people”) is a learned borrowing from Latin plēbiscītum: see above. It is attested earlier than English plebiscitum. Cognates * Italian plebiscito * Middle French plebiscite (modern French plébiscite) * Middle Low German plebiscīt (“ordinance”) * Spanish plebiscito, plebisçito (obsolete)

pledge

Medieval Latin

From Old French plege, from Medieval Latin plevium, ultimately from a Frankish word meaning "to guarantee." Related to plight.

Pleiades

Latin

From Latin Pleiades, from Greek Pleiades. The astronomical name replaced the older Old English term "seofonstierre" (literally "the seven stars").

plenish

Origin

Scots plenish, from pleniss- the stem of Anglo-Norman plenir in certain conjugated form, from plein (“full”). Compare replenish.

plenteous

Origin

From Middle English plentewos, plentevous, et al., circa 1300, from Old French plentiveus (“fertile, rich”) (early 13th century), from plentif (“abundant”), from plenté (“abundance”) (Modern French pleinté, English plenty), from Latin plenitatem, accusative of plenitas (“fullness”), from plenus (“complete, full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”).

plentiful

Middle English

From Middle English plentiful, built from plenty + -ful.

plenty

Latin

From Anglo-Norman plenté, ultimately from Latin plenitas ("fullness"), from plenus ("full") — the same root that gives us "full," "complete," and "replenish."

pleonasm

Origin

Learned borrowing from Late Latin pleonasmus, from Ancient Greek πλεονασμός (pleonasmós), from πλεονάζω (pleonázō, “to be superfluous”), from πλείων (pleíōn, “more”).

pleonastic

Origin

From pleonasm + -astic.

plerion

Origin

Coined by Weiler & Panagia (1978), from Ancient Greek πλήρης (plḗrēs, “full”).

plethon

Origin

Borrowed from Byzantine Greek Πλήθων (Plḗthōn), adopted by Plethon as a nickname or cognomen from Attic Greek πλῆθος (plêthos, “multitude, great number”) as a classicizing substitute for his surname Γεμιστός (Gemistós), from γεμιστός (gemistós, “filled, stuffed”). The particular form may have been chosen to mirror Πλάτων (Plátōn, “Plato”).

plethora

Greek

From Greek plēthōra ("fullness, satiety"), from plēthō ("to be full").

plethoric

Origin

From Late Latin plethoricus, from Hellenistic Ancient Greek πληθωρικός (plēthōrikós), from πληθώρα (plēthṓra, “plethora”). By surface analysis, plethora + -ic.

pleuston

Origin

From Ancient Greek πλεῦσις (pleûsis, “sailing”), from πλέω (pléō) + -on. The -t- is on analogy with the coordinate terms.

plex

Origin

Ultimately from -plex, from Latin plectere

plexus

Latin

Borrowed directly from Latin plexus ("a twining, braid, network").

pliable

Old French

From Old French ploiable, from ploiier ("to fold") — related to the word "ply."

pliant

Origin

From Middle English pliaunt, from Old French ploiant, present participle of ploiier (“to fold”).

plicate

Origin

From Latin plicātus, perfect passive participle of plicō (“to fold”), see -ate.

plication

Origin

From Middle French plicacion, and its source, Latin plicatio.

plicature

Origin

From Latin plicatura, from plicare (“to fold”).

pliers

Origin

From ply ("to bend") plus the agent suffix -er, with the plural -s reflecting the tool's two joined handles.

plight

Old French

From Old English pliht ("danger, risk"), blended with an Old French word meaning "condition" or "fold." Related to pledge.

Plimpton

Origin

A variant of Plympton or Plumpton.

plinth

Origin

From French plinthe, from Latin plinthus, from Ancient Greek πλίνθος (plínthos, “brick”).

Pliny

Latin

From Latin Plīnius, an Italic name of obscure origin.

plip

Origin

Shortened from the name of Paul Lipschutz, French inventor.

plod

Middle English

First recorded in Middle English, likely originally describing a heavy splash through mud or a puddle — the same idea survives in dialect words for mire.

plodder

Origin

From Middle English plodder, equivalent to plod + -er.

plonk

Origin

An imitative word copying the sound of a heavy object landing; related to "plunk".