Where does “pile” come from?
Pile comes from Middle French pile, from Latin pila, from Latin pilus, from Latin pilum, from Proto-Indo-European peys-.
pile (English): A mass of things heaped together; a heap; A group...
Definitions
- A mass of things heaped together; a heap; A group...
Ancestry of “pile”, step by step
pile traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French pile
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | pile | heap, stack; pillar; battery |
| 2 | Old French | pile | — |
| 3 | Latin | pila | mortar; pillar; pier |
| 4 | Latin | pīlus | a hair |
| 5 | Latin | pīlum | a pounder, pestle |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | pistlom | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | pis-tlo- | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | peys- | to grind, to crush |
via Middle English pile
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | pile | — |
| 2 | Old English | pīl | pointed stick |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | *pīl | — |
via Late Latin pilus
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Late Latin | pilus | A hair; An insignificant amount; iota; least... |