English
pious
Pious comes from Latin pius ‘pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘pure’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-‘pure’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pīos‘pious, devout’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpius‘pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout’
- Englishearliest quotation 1850pious
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-‘pure’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pīos‘pious, devout’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpius‘pious, dutiful, blessed, kind, devout’
- Englishearliest quotation 1850pious
Earliest quotation: 1850, T. S. Arthur, Deacon Smith and his Violin: “Old Deacon Smith was quick to see the impression…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘pure’
pure, deputy, reputation, pour, purity, pity, purification, purify, putative, piety, purist, purée, puro, 17 more
through Proto-Italic *pīos ‘pious, devout’
Today it means
adj Of or pertaining to piety, exhibiting piety, devout, god-fearing.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pewH- / pious