pecia

Forms

pecia f (genitive peciae); first declension^[2][3] It is also spelled petia, pezia, pechia, pettia and piccia, and a neuter pecium and masculine pecius are found.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Gaulish *pettsi;^[5] Etymonline gives the intermediate form as *pettia.^[5] The TLL calls it a foreign word, perhaps standing for that form, which scholars assign to Gaulish;^[6] Niermeyer and Köbler likewise give it a Celtic origin.^[2][3] Etymonline compares Welsh peth (“thing”) and Breton pez (“piece”), and tentatively connects the Celtic word with Proto-Indo-European *kʷezd- (“part, piece”).^[5] Wiktionary, which treats it under the spelling ⟨pettia⟩, calls the origin uncertain and suggests *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL's only example is in a Merovingian text of the Salic law, where four sticks are to be thrown in four directions, in quattuor pecias, apparently four parts of the court.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In medieval Latin it was a piece of anything: of land, of cloth, of meat, of parchment or silverware.^[2][4][7] It was also a section of a manuscript copied separately, a cask of wine, and an item in an account.^[2] English records add a pig of lead or iron, a coin, a piece of ordnance, and the use “apiece” for each head of livestock.^[4]

French pièce and Italian pezzo belong with it,^[6] and English piece came from the Old French word.^[5]

Timeline

• Merovingian period – The Salic law has in quattuor pecias.^[6]
• 746 – The earliest date Köbler gives, from Niermeyer's material.^[3]
• c. 1200 – English piece, from Old French.^[5]
• 1205 – Twenty pieces of good sturgeon, in the English close rolls.^[4]
• 1312 – A notary's record on ten sheets of parchment.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Medieval Latin) A piece, part, fragment.^[2][4][7]
2. (Medieval Latin) A plot of land.^[2][4]
3. (Medieval Latin) A piece of cloth.^[2][4]
4. (Medieval Latin) A section of a manuscript copied separately; a sheet of parchment.^[2][4]
5. (Medieval Latin) A cask of wine.^[2]
6. (Medieval Latin) An item in an account.^[2]
7. (Medieval Latin) A pig of lead or iron; a piece of silverware; a coin.^[4]

Related words

• English piece

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
7. ^ a b Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl