Where does “pillar” come from?
pillar (Spanish) comes from French piller, from Middle French piller, from Old French pillier, from Vulgar Latin piliare, from Latin pilāre, from Latin pila, from Latin pīlus, from Latin pīlum — to grind, to crush.
pillar (Spanish): to catch, get, to grab; to pilfer, steal; to tag
Definitions
- to catch, get, to grab; to pilfer, steal; to tag
Ancestry of “pillar”, step by step
pillar traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French piller
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | piller | to plunder; to pillage |
| 2 | Middle French | piller | to plunder; to pillage |
| 3 | Old French | pillier | to plunder; to pillage |
| 4 | Vulgar Latin | piliare | — |
| 5 | Latin | pilāre | — |
| 6 | Latin | pila | mortar; pillar; pier |
| 7 | Latin | pīlus | a hair |
| 8 | Latin | pīlum | a pounder, pestle |
| 9 | Proto-Italic | pistlom | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | pis-tlo- | — |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | peys- | to grind, to crush |
via Italian pigliare
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italian | pigliare | Synonym of prendere |