English
piece
Piece comes from Middle English pece ‘piece’, and goes back to Late Latin pettia ‘fragment’.
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpettiaas pecia‘fragment’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400piece
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pece‘piece’
- Englishearliest quotation 1569piece
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpettiaas pecia‘fragment’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400piece
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pece‘piece’
- Englishearliest quotation 1569piece
Earliest quotation: 1569, Richard Grafton, The Seuenth Age, and Seuenth Part of this Chronicle: “Then enteryng into league with Philip the French king,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis ‘piece, portion’
through Old French piece
Today it means
noun A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Late Latin pettia / piece