pier

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English pere, inherited from Old English per (late Old English),^[2][3][4] borrowed from Medieval Latin pera (“pier of a bridge”), a word of unknown origin.^[5][6][7] The OED treats the whole etymology as uncertain: the Medieval Latin word is first attested in the Latin version of the very document in which the English word first appears.^[8] Barnhart and Etymonline mention a possible source in Old French pire (“breakwater”) (Old North French), from Vulgar Latin *petricus, from Latin petra (“rock”),^[9][5] and Klein and Skeat derived it from the Latin word,^[3][10] but Etymonline notes that the OED is against this.^[5] Weekley pointed out that the Picard and Walloon forms are found along the Scheldt and suggested a Germanic origin.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A structure supporting a span of a bridge: late Old English, before 1125, in a list of estates liable for work on Rochester Bridge.^[8][9][12]

Semantic evolution

From the support of a bridge the word passed to other heavy supports.^[8][12] From the mid-15th century it meant a solid structure built out into the sea to shelter a harbour and serve as a landing place (1453),^[8][5][12] and in architecture, from the 17th century, a square pillar or the masonry between windows and doors.^[8][12] Johnson (1755) knew only the columns on which the arch of a bridge is raised.^[13] The modern seaside pier, a deck on piles used as a promenade, is a further extension of the landing-place sense,^[14][2] and since 1957 an airport pier has been a long corridor leading to the boarding gates.^[8]

Timeline

• late Old English – support of a bridge span.^[8][9]
• 1453 – a structure projecting into the sea, protecting a harbour.^[8][5]
• 1613 – a pillar supporting an arch.^[8]
• 1663 – the wall between openings.^[8]
• 1857 – verb: to support with piers.^[8]
• 1957 – a passenger corridor at an airport.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A platform on piles built out over water, used as a landing place for boats or as a promenade.
2. A pillar or other support carrying a heavy load, especially between the spans of a bridge.
3. The section of a wall between two openings such as windows.
4. A breakwater or mole protecting a harbour.

Word family

• pierhead
• pier glass
• pier table

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
10. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins