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Etymology and origin of the French word pite

pite1 small copper coin

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1462 Ordonnances des rois de France
Borrowed from
Occitan picta

Pronunciation

Forms

pite f[2][1] First recorded as picte (1462), then pite (1477).[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the small coin is probably borrowed from Occitan picta, also pita, a name for the same coin recorded in Occitan from 1391–1394.[2] The coin is also called Medieval Latin picta in medieval charters of Forcalquier and Brive, and Parisian ⟨pictas ratas⟩ are mentioned as early as 1271.[2][3] The TLFi thinks that the Occitan word first meant simply “the little coin” and connects it with a root *pitt- (“something pointed”), widespread in the Romance languages for pointed things and, by extension, small ones, as in piton.[2] The Grand Robert likewise derives it from that root, which it glosses as “point, pointed end”.[1]

Littré gave another explanation: the same word and pictavina were a small coin struck at Poitiers.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Picte is recorded in 1462 in the Ordonnances des rois de France, as the name of a small coin.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The pite was a copper coin worth a quarter of a denier, that is half an obole; it went out of circulation at the end of the 17th century.[2][3] Accounts of the 17th century still reckoned fractions of the denier in oboles, pites and half-pites, as a royal declaration of 1640 shows.[4] La Rochefoucauld used it of the widow's mite, set against the kingdoms given away by Alexander and Caesar.[3]

Timeline

  • 1271 – Pictas ratas Parisienses are mentioned in a Medieval Latin charter.[2]
  • 1391–1394 – Occitan pita is recorded.[2]
  • 1462 – Picte appears in the Ordonnances des rois de France.[2]
  • 1477 – The form pite is recorded.[2][1]
  • 16th century – Ambroise Paré reckons the fineness of gold in deniers pite.[4]
  • 1640 – A royal declaration counts fractions of the denier in oboles, pites and half-pites.[4]
  • Late 17th century – The coin goes out of circulation.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (numismatics, historical) A small copper coin worth a quarter of a denier, or half an obole.[2][3][4]

pite2 agave fibre

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1601–1603 Samuel de Champlain, Brief discours
Borrowed from
Spanish pita
Ultimate origin
Spanish pita

Pronunciation

Forms

pite f[2][6] First recorded in fil de pitte (1601–1603), then as pite (1614).[2] As the name of the textile it is masculine in some dictionaries.[2][7]

Etymology

The word for the agave and its fibre is borrowed from Spanish pita (“plant from which thread is made”), recorded in Spanish in 1561.[2][1][7] The Spanish word probably comes from an unidentified language of the north of South America, according to the TLFi and the GLLF;[2][3] the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert call it a Peruvian word.[1][6] The Wiktionnaire gives it as Portuguese pita instead.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Samuel de Champlain's Brief discours (1601–1603) speaks of fil de pitte, thread made from the plant.[2]

Semantic evolution

The word names an American agave whose leaves yield a strong textile fibre, and, by metonymy, the fibre itself, used for fishing lines and cords.[2][7] It is recorded by the Académie from 1762.[2] The Petit Robert marks it as rare.[6]

Timeline

  • 1561 – Spanish pita is recorded.[2]
  • 1599 – The Grand Robert's first date for the French word.[1][6]
  • 1601–1603 – Champlain writes of fil de pitte.[2]
  • 1614 – Yves d'Évreux uses pite in his account of a journey to northern Brazil.[2]
  • 1762 – The Académie records the word.[2]
  • 1814 – Bernardin de Saint-Pierre mentions very strong threads of pite drawn from the leaves of the large aloe.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (botany) An American agave whose leaves yield a textile fibre.[2][6][7]
  2. The fibre of this plant, used for cords and fishing lines; in this sense sometimes masculine.[2][7]
  • piton
  • agave
  • Spanish pita

Usage notes

Littré and the Grand Robert number the coin and the plant as two separate words, pite 1 and pite 2.[4][1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Pite.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/pite. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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