pes Latin · revision 766

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpeːs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɛs]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pēs''' ''m'' (genitive pedis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|itc-pro|*pōd-]], [[inh|ine-pro|*pṓds|t=foot]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The long vowel of the nominative is best explained by Lachmann's law from *ped-s, and the e-grade of the other cases comes from the accusative *ped-m or the locative *ped-i.^(de Vaan 2008) The Umbrian compounds such as [[xum|dupursus|t=for bipeds]] show that the grade *pōd- survived into Proto-Italic.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ Cognate with [[xum|peři|t=with the foot]], [[sa|पद्|tr=pád]], [[grc|πούς|tr=poús]], [[hit|pāt-]] and [[ang|fōt]], all meaning “foot”.^(de Vaan 2008)^(TLL)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It appears in the Twelve Tables and in Livius Andronicus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010) In Plautus it is the human [[m|en|foot]], as when a character asks for water for the feet.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Besides the foot of people and animals, Latin used it from early on as a measure of length (about 296 mm),^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) for the leg of a piece of [[m|en|furniture]], and for the rope at the lower corner of a sail.^(OLD 2012) Many idioms grew from it: ''pedibus'' “on foot” or “by land”, ''pedibus ire in sententiam'' “to vote by moving to one side” in the Senate, ''ad pedes'' of suppliants, and ''nec caput nec pes'' for something without head or tail.^(OLD 2012) In prosody it was the metrical [[m|en|foot]], and more widely rhythm or [[m|en|metre]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ Medieval writers used it for the foot of a mountain, the lower end of a field and the foot of a document,^(Niermeyer 1976) and Köbler records it as the pawn in chess.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 450 BC – It appears in the Twelve Tables.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it for the human foot and as a measure.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato uses it for the legs of a chest.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for the metrical foot.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1st century AD – Columella uses it for the stalk of a fruit.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * Middle Ages – It names the foot of a mountain or of a document.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|foot]] of a person or animal.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''pedibus'': on foot; by land.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A step, a minimal distance (in negative phrases).^(OLD 2012)

+ # A foot as a measure of length; a square foot.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Space or extent of ground.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(prosody)'' A metrical foot; metre, rhythm.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # The leg of a piece of furniture.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(nautical)'' A [[m|en|sheet]], the rope at a lower corner of a sail.^(OLD 2012)

+ # The stalk of a fruit; the base of anything.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' The foot of a mountain; the lower end of a field; the foot of a document.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[antepes]]

+ * [[bipēs]]

+ * [[circumpēs]]

+ * [[compēs]]

+ * [[expediō]]

+ * [[impediō]]

+ * [[interpedio]]

+ * [[peda]]

+ * [[pedālis]]

+ * [[pedāneus]]

+ * [[pedārius]]

+ * [[pedātus]]

+ * [[pedester]]

+ * [[pedes]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pedeplāna]]

+ * [[pedetemptim]]

+ * [[peditātus]]

+ * [[peditō]]

+ * [[oppidum]]

+ * [[pessum]]

+ * [[en|foot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Manibus pedibusque'' “with hands and feet” meant “with all one's might”.^(OLD 2012) Pokorny connects the comparative ''[[peior]]'' “worse” with the same root, through a sense “falling down”.^(Pokorny 1959)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}