Where does “pis aller” come from?
pis aller (English) comes from French pis-aller, from French pis, from French puis, from Vulgar Latin postius, from Latin post, from Latin poste, from Proto-Italic posti, from Proto-Indo-European pósti — afterwards, post; by, at.
pis aller (English): A last resort
Ancestry of “pis aller”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | pis-aller | make-do, a less than optimal solution,... |
| 2 | French | pis | worse; udder; and, besides |
| 3 | French | puis | then; and; first-person singular present... |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | postius | afterwards, afterward |
| 5 | Latin | post | behind; after, since, besides, except; behind,... |
| 6 | Latin | poste | ablative singular of postis |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | posti | — |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | pósti | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | pós | afterwards, post; by, at |