Etymologically
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piede

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈpjɛ.de/, /ˈpje.de/[1]

Forms

piede m (plural piedi, diminutive piedìno, augmentative piedóne, pejorative piedàccio, diminutive-endearing piedùccio)[1] The shortened form piè is literary or found in set phrases.[2][1] Old and regional forms include Old Italian pede.[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin pēs (“foot”), from the accusative pedem.[5][6][7][1] The stressed short /e/ of Latin became the diphthong /jɛ/.[1][8]

The same word is French pied, Occitan pe, Catalan peu, Spanish pie, Portuguese pé, Sardinian pe, Friulian pit and Dalmatian pi.[6][9] It is missing from Romanian.[10]

Latin pes belongs to the core vocabulary of Indo-European, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds: its cognates include Ancient Greek πούς (poús), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐍄𐌿𐍃 (fōtus), German Fuß and English foot.[6][1][4] Devoto notes that it survives in every branch except Slavic and Celtic.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT dates the first record before 1250 and Nocentini to 1260–1261, and Sabatini–Coletti mention a pede of the 10th century.[7][6][12] DELI's earliest text is the Novellino, from the end of the 13th century, for the end of the human leg.[5] The short form piè is recorded before 1274.[6]

Semantic evolution

By the end of the 13th century the word also meant the lower part of something (Bono Giamboni, before 1292) and a unit of length.[5] Boccaccio used it for the metrical foot before 1375.[5] The foot of a mountain follows Late Latin pes montis, and the English foot of 30.48 cm was given its Italian name in 1749.[4] Dante and Boccaccio also used it for the stump or the plant of a tree or herb.[4]

Several modern expressions are calques: a piede libero “free, at large” probably follows German auf freiem Fusse, piedipiatti “cop” follows American English flatfoot, and piede di guerra (1853) follows French pied de guerre.[5][4] Piedi dolci “flat feet” comes from the northern dialects.[5] The idiom mettere qualcuno su un piedistallo is recorded in 1871.[5]

Timeline

  • 10th century – A form pede is recorded.[12]
  • Before 1250 – First record according to GRADIT.[7]
  • 1260–1261 – First record according to Nocentini.[6]
  • Before 1274 – The short form piè appears.[6]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for the lower part of something.[5]
  • Late 13th century – The Novellino uses it for the human foot, and it is also recorded as a unit of length.[5]
  • Before 1375 – Boccaccio uses it for the metrical foot.[5]
  • 1749 – Piede is used for the English foot.[4]
  • 1853 – Piede di guerra appears.[4]
  • 1871 – Mettere su un piedistallo is recorded.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. foot, the end of the human leg: Dopo la camminata mi fanno male i piedi.[7][8][12]
  2. (zoology) The end of an animal's leg, and the muscular organ on which a mollusc moves.[7][12]
  3. The lower part or base of something, a leg of a piece of furniture: Uno dei piedi della sedia è rotto.[7][12]
  4. The foot of a mountain or hill: un paese ai piedi delle Alpi.[12][4]
  5. The base of a plant.[7]
  6. A unit of length, the Roman foot of about 30 cm or the English one of 30.48 cm.[7][12]
  7. (metrics) A metrical foot, and in Italian metre each of the two parts of the opening of a canzone stanza.[7][12]

Word family

  • piedino
  • piedistallo
  • piedritto
  • pedana
  • pedata
  • peduccio
  • pedule
  • pedula
  • appiedare
  • contropiede
  • dappiè
  • sottopiede
  • pedestre
  • pedemontano
  • peduncolo
  • Latin pes

Usage notes

A piedi means “on foot” and in piedi “standing”.[13][8] Common idioms include andare con i piedi di piombo (“to tread carefully”), partire con il piede giusto (“to get off to a good start”) and avere un piede nella fossa (“to have one foot in the grave”).[8][2][14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 13, 376
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2907
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
  11. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  13. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  14. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana