Indo-European Lexicon
PIE Etymon and IE Reflexes
Below we display: a Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymon adapted from Pokorny, with our own English gloss; our Semantic Field assignment(s) for the etymon, linked to information about the field(s); an optional Comment; and Reflexes (derived words) in various Indo-European languages, organized by family/group in west-to-east order where Germanic is split into West/North/East families and English, our language of primary emphasis, is artificially separated from West Germanic. IE Reflexes appear most often as single words with any optional letter(s) enclosed in parentheses; but alternative full spellings are separated by '/' and "principal parts" appear in a standard order (e.g. masculine, feminine, and neuter forms) separated by commas.
Reflexes are annotated with: Part-of-Speech and/or other Grammatical feature(s); a short Gloss which, especially for modern English reflexes, may be confined to the oldest sense; and some Source citation(s) with 'LRC' always understood as editor. Keys to PoS/Gram feature abbreviations and Source codes appear below the reflexes; at the end are links to the previous/next etyma [in Pokorny's alphabetic order] that have reflexes.
All reflex pages are currently under active construction; as time goes on, corrections may be made and/or more etyma & reflexes may be added.
Pokorny Etymon: 1. peis-? : pis- 'to grind, trample'
Semantic Field(s): to Grind, to Drop, Foot
Indo-European Reflexes:
| Family/Language | Reflex(es) | PoS/Gram. | Gloss | Source(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | ||||
| Old English: | pīl | n.masc | pile, pointed stick/spike | ODE |
| pīle | n.fem | mortar | ASD | |
| Middle English: | pestel | n | pestle | W7 |
| pile | n | pile, dart | W7 | |
| tisane | n | tisane | W7 | |
| English: | pestle | n | implement for grinding/pounding substance in mortar | AHD/W7 |
| pesto | n | Italian pasta sauce: olive oil, basil, cheese, garlic, pine nuts | AHD | |
| pile | n | point, spike; stake/timber driven into ground | AHD/W7 | |
| pile | vb | to drive (pile) into ground | AHD/W7 | |
| piste | n | densely packed ski trail | AHD | |
| pistil | n | ovule-bearing organ of seed plant | AHD/W7 | |
| piston | n | sliding piece moved by/moving against fluid pressure | AHD/W7 | |
| pistou | n | sauce made from garlic/basil/olive oil | AHD | |
| ptisan | n | barley decoction with other ingredients | AHD/W7 | |
| tisane | n | infusion used as beverage/medicine | AHD/W7 | |
| West Germanic | ||||
| Middle Dutch: | pīl | n | pile | ODE |
| Dutch: | pijl | n | pile | ODE |
| Middle Low German: | pīl | n | pile | ODE |
| vīsel | n | pestle | W7 | |
| Old High German: | pfīl | n | pile | ODE |
| German: | Pfeil | n.masc | bolt, dart, arrow | ODE |
| North Germanic | ||||
| Old Norse: | píll | n | willow (pile) | KNW |
| Danish: | pil | n | willow (pile) | TLL |
| Swedish: | pil | n | willow (pile) | TLL |
| Italic | ||||
| Latin: | pīla | n.fem | mortar | IEW |
| pīlum | n.neut | spear/javelin; pestle | W7 | |
| pinso, pinsere | vb | to crush, stamp, pound | W7 | |
| pistillum | n.neut | pestle | W7 | |
| pistor, pistoris | n.masc | miller, grinder | LRC | |
| pistus | vb.ptc | ground, crushed | W7 | |
| ptisana | n.fem | ptisan, crushed barley | W7 | |
| Medieval Latin: | pistō, pistāre | vb | to mill, grind, pound | W7 |
| New Latin: | pistillum | n.neut | pistil | W7 |
| Middle French: | pestel | n.masc | javelin | W7 |
| tisane | n.fem | herb tea, decoction | W7 | |
| French: | piston | n.masc | piston | W7 |
| Italian: | pistone | n.masc | piston | W7 |
| Hellenic | ||||
| Greek: | ptisanē | n.fem | ptisan, crushed barley | W7 |
| πτίσσω | vb | to crush, stamp, pound | LRC | |
Key to Part-of-Speech/Grammatical feature abbreviations:
| Abbrev. | Meaning | |
|---|---|---|
| fem | = | feminine (gender) |
| masc | = | masculine (gender) |
| n | = | noun |
| neut | = | neuter (gender) |
| ptc | = | participle |
| vb | = | verb |
Key to information Source codes (always with 'LRC' as editor):
| Code | Citation | |
|---|---|---|
| AHD | = | Calvert Watkins: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed. (2000) |
| ASD | = | Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller: An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898) |
| IEW | = | Julius Pokorny: Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1959) |
| KNW | = | Gerhard Köbler: Altnordisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed. (2003) |
| LRC | = | Linguistics Research Center, University of Texas, Austin |
| ODE | = | C.T. Onions: The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (1966) |
| TLL | = | Frederick Bodmer: The Loom of Language (1944) |
| W7 | = | Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary (1963) |
