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Etymology and origin of the Latin word pedo

pedo1 prop with stakes

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1st century AD, Columella
Ultimate origin
Latin pēs
Etymology tree of pedo1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin pes
French pied
Italian piede
Latin pedo
From the same root · pedo1
Latin bipedalis ← pes
Latin bipes ← pes
Latin cornipes ← pes
Latin decempeda ← pes
Latin pedica ← pes
Latin semipes ← pes
Latin sonipes ← pes

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpɛ.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛː.do][1]

Forms

pedō (present infinitive pedāre, perfect active pedāvī, supine pedātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

The verb “to prop” is from Latin pēs (“foot”) + -ō, a verb made from the noun.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Columella (1st century AD) uses it of vines, writing of the care of propping a vineyard with stakes after pruning.[3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is found almost only in the perfect participle and the gerundive, of vines: Pliny the Elder also speaks of propped vines.[3] Lewis and Short also give the sense “to furnish with feet”, from Suetonius' male pedātus, “badly set on his feet”.[4][1]

Timeline

  • 1st century AD – Columella: vines to be propped with stakes.[3][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder writes of propped vines.[3][5]
  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius has male pedātus, “badly set on his feet”.[4][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (transitive) To prop (vines) with stakes.[2][3][4]
  2. To furnish with feet (only in male pedātus, “badly set on his feet”).[4][1]

Word family

  • pedāmen
  • pedāmentum
  • pedātūra

pedo2 fart

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
81/79–52/50 BC, Catullus
Inherited from
Proto-Italic *pezdō
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *pesd-

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈpeː.doː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈpɛː.do][1]

Forms

pēdō (present infinitive pēdere, perfect active pepēdī, supine pēditum); third conjugation, no passive[1]

Etymology

The verb “to fart” is inherited from Proto-Italic *pezdō (“to fart”), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pesd- (“to fart”).[6][2][1] De Vaan thinks the shape of the root points to an imitative origin.[6] The TLL notes that a similar root seen in Ancient Greek πέρδομαι (pérdomai) has been lost in Latin;[3] Lewis and Short had derived the verb from that root.[4]

Cognate with βδέω (bdéō, “to fart”), Lithuanian bezdė́ti and Russian бздеть (bzdetʹ).[6][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Catullus (81/79–52/50 BC) has the participle used as a noun, pēditum, “a fart”.[4][5] The verb itself is found in Horace and Martial.[6][4]

Semantic evolution

It is used intransitively, of breaking wind.[2][1] De Vaan does not consider it certain that pōdex “anus” was derived from the same root.[6]

Timeline

  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus has the noun pēditum.[4][5]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace uses the verb in his Satires.[4][6][5]
  • 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it.[4][6][5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (intransitive, vulgar) To fart, break wind.[2][4][1]

Word family

  • oppēdō
  • pēditum

Usage notes

Glossaries also have a noun pedō, pedōnis, “a man with broad feet”, from pēs;[4][3][1] in Medieval Latin it means a foot soldier,[7][1] and it lives on in Italian pedone and Old French peon.[3][5] Pedō was also a Roman cognomen, borne by the poet Albinovanus Pedo, a friend of Ovid.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c d e f g de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill

Related etymologies

  • opus · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • albus · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • potis · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • salvus · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • socius · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • signum · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • frater · also from Proto-Indo-European
  • foedus · also from Proto-Indo-European
Cite this entry

“Pedo.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/pedo. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·