Where does “pillory” come from?
Pillory comes from Old French pilori, from Latin pila, ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European roots related to hair and pointed objects.
pillory (English): A framework on a post, with holes for the hands...
Definitions
- A framework on a post, with holes for the hands...
Ancestry of “pillory”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | pilory | — |
| 2 | Old French | pilori | pillory |
| 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 |
Words derived from “pillory”