Etymologically
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pila

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈpiː.ɫa], [ˈpiː.ɫaː][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpiː.la], [ˈpiː.la][1]

Forms

pīla f (genitive pīlae); first declension[1] Inscriptions spell it peila.[2]

Etymology

The origin is unknown.[3][2] It goes back to Proto-Italic *peilā, and the derived verb pīlō “to fix firmly” has a parallel in Oscan ehpeílatasset (“have been erected”).[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cato uses it.[3] Köbler dates Cato 234–149 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it was a squared pillar, free-standing or built into a wall, a pier, as the piers of a bridge over the Tiber in Livy and a pier thrown into the sea in Virgil.[2][5] It was also a low pillar set up as a monument, and the pillars of porticoes where booksellers showed their books, as in Horace.[2][5]

Through Old French pile it gave English pile “heap”.[6] It survives as Italian pila and Spanish pila.[1]

Timeline

  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it.[3][4]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil describes a stone pier.[2][4]
  • 59 BC–17 AD – Livy mentions the piers of a bridge over the Tiber.[2][4]
  • early 15th century – English pile “heap” is recorded.[6]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A squared pillar, column.[2][7]
  2. A pier (of a bridge or harbour).[2][5]
  3. A low pillar as a monument.[2]

Word family

  • pilō
  • pīlārium
  • pīlātim
  • English pile

Usage notes

There are two homographs: pīla “mortar”, from the root of pīnsō “to pound”, and pila “ball”, perhaps from pilus “hair”, the source of French pelote.[2][1] Isidore says the ball is so called because it is full of hairs.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).