Where does “piercing” come from?
Piercing derives from Middle English piercing, from English pierce, ultimately from Latin pertusus, the past participle of a verb formed with the prefix per-.
piercing (English): present participle of pierce; The action of the...
Definitions
- present participle of pierce; The action of the...
Ancestry of “piercing”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | pierce | to puncture; to break through; to create a hole... |
| 2 | Middle English | perce | pierce |
| 3 | Old French | percier | to pierce |
| 4 | Latin | pertusiāre | — |
| 5 | Latin | pertūsus | perforated |
| 6 | Latin | pertundere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 7 | Latin | pertundo | I bore through, perforate |
| 8 | Latin | tundo | I beat, strike, buffet; I pound, bruise, crush,... |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | tundō | beat, strike |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)tewd- | to push, to hit |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | stew- | to praise, laud |