English

forepiece

From fore- + piece.

Formed from fore- + piece

Proto-Indo-European *per- ‘before, formerly’

Proto-Germanic *fura- ‘before, in front of, for’

Proto-West Germanic *forē- ‘before, in front of, fore-, pre-’

English fore-

Late Latin pettia ‘fragment’

Old French piece

Middle English pece ‘piece’

English piece

Today it means

noun The front or forward-facing piece of an object, especially of a cap

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / forepiece