English
pilot
Pilot comes from Middle French pilot, from Italian pilota (earlier pedota), from Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης ‘helmsman’, from πηδόν ‘oar’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπηδόν‘oar blade, oar’
- Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453*πηδώτης‘helmsman’reconstructed
- Italianc. 1300–presentpilota‘pilot’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pilot‘pilot’
- Englishearliest quotation 1697same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEπηδόν‘oar blade, oar’
- Byzantine Greekc. 600–1453*πηδώτης‘helmsman’reconstructed
- Italianc. 1300–presentpilota‘pilot’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600pilot‘pilot’
- Englishearliest quotation 1697same form
Earliest quotation: 1697, Virgil, The First Book of the Æneis: “They scud before the wind, and sail in open…”
The story
From Middle French pilot, pillot, from Italian pilota, piloto, older also pedotta, pedot(t)o (the form in pil- is probably influenced by pileggiare (‘to sail, navigate’)); ultimately from unattested Byzantine Greek *πηδώτης (*pēdṓtēs, “helmsman”), from Ancient Greek πηδόν (pēdón, “blade of an oar, oar”), hence also Ancient and Modern Greek πηδάλιον (pēdálion, “rudder”).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *ped- ‘to walk, step’
feet, foot, expedition, pie, pedestrian, pioneer, fetch, pedal, podium, impeachment, pawn, pew, pedigree, impede, pug, expedite, impediment, pes, baht, ped, centipede, fet, pedicure, petiole, peon, pedometer, puy, fetter, pada, pedicel, pedicle, poy, tripos, biped, quadruped, 50 more
Today it means
noun A person who steers a ship, a helmsman.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek πηδόν / pilot