piece
[ pees ]
/ pis /
noun
verb (used with object), pieced, piec·ing.
verb (used without object), pieced, piec·ing.
Chiefly North Midland U.S.
to eat small portions of food between meals; snack.
Idioms for piece
Origin of piece
1175–1225; Middle English
pece < Old French < Gaulish
*pettia; akin to Breton
pez piece, Welsh, Cornish
peth thing
SYNONYMS FOR piece
synonym study for piece
1. See
part.
usage note for piece
The meanings “sexual intercourse” and “sexual partner” are both vulgar slang. When referring to a person, the term
piece is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting.
historical usage of piece
English
piece comes from Middle English
pece, peece, piece, from Anglo-French
peece, pees, peice and Old French
pece, pice. Other Western Romance languages share variations of the same word: Provençal
pessa, pesa, Spanish
pieza, Catalan
peça, Portuguese
peça, Italian
pezza. These Romance forms correspond to Medieval Latin
pecia, petia “a bit, portion, coin” (compare
two bits , a dated American slang term for "twenty-five cents"). The Medieval Latin form has no Latin origin but probably originates in a Gaulish noun
pettiā, which explains why there is no cognate word in Romanian (
piece in Romanian is
bucată ).
The American colloquialism wanna get a piece of me? (a challenge to a fight) dates back to 1953; piece in the derogatory sense “girl or woman (regarded as a sex object)” dates back to the 16th century; piece of ass to 1857; and (nasty) piece of work dates from the 18th century.
The American colloquialism wanna get a piece of me? (a challenge to a fight) dates back to 1953; piece in the derogatory sense “girl or woman (regarded as a sex object)” dates back to the 16th century; piece of ass to 1857; and (nasty) piece of work dates from the 18th century.
OTHER WORDS FROM piece
mul·ti·piece, adjective un·pieced, adjectiveWORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH piece
peace pieceWords nearby piece
British Dictionary definitions for piece together
piece
/ (piːs) /
noun
verb (tr)
See also
piece out
Word Origin for piece
C13
pece, from Old French, of Gaulish origin; compare Breton
pez piece, Welsh
peth portion
Idioms and Phrases with piece together (1 of 2)
piece together
Join or combine parts into a whole, as in With information from several observers, she pieced together an account of what had actually taken place. [Late 1500s]
Idioms and Phrases with piece together (2 of 2)
piece