Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “PIE” come from?

PIE (English) comes from Middle English pie, from Old French pié, from Latin pēs, from Ancient Greek μέτρον, from Ancient Greek -τρον, from Proto-Hellenic -tron, from Proto-Indo-European -trom, from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr — Derives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...

Ancestry of “PIE”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglishpieAlternative form of pye
2Old Frenchpiéfoot
3Latinpēs—
4Ancient Greekμέτρονsomething used to measure: measure, rule, weight;...
5Ancient Greek-τρονForms instrument nouns
6Proto-Hellenic-tronForms instrument nouns from verb stems
7Proto-Indo-European-tromForms nouns denoting a tool or instrument
8Proto-Indo-European-tḗrDerives agent nouns from verbs, denoting someone...
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tḗr →