pie

¹

[pahy]

noun

1. a baked food having a filling of fruit, meat, pudding, etc., prepared in a pastry-lined pan or dish and often topped with a pastry crust.

   apple pie; meat pie.

2. a layer cake with a filling of custard, cream jelly, or the like.

   chocolate cream pie.

3. a total or whole that can be divided.

   They want a bigger part of the profit pie.

4. an activity or affair.

   He has his finger in the political pie too.

5. pizza.

pie

²

[pahy]

noun

1. magpie.

pie

³

[pahy]

noun

pied, pieing 

1. a spelling variant of pi.

pie

⁴

Or pye

[pahy]

noun

1. (in England before the Reformation) a book of ecclesiastical rules for finding the particulars of the service for the day.

pie

⁵

[pahy]

noun

1. a former bronze coin of India, the 12th part of an anna.

PIE

⁶

abbreviation

1. Proto-Indo-European.

pie

¹

/ paɪ /

noun

1. a baked food consisting of a sweet or savoury filling in a pastry-lined dish, often covered with a pastry crust

2. 1. to have an interest in or take part in some activity

   2. to meddle or interfere

3. illusory hope or promise of some future good; false optimism

pie

²

/ paɪ /

noun

1. an archaic or dialect name for magpie

pie

³

/ paɪ /

noun

1. printing a variant spelling of pi 2

pie

⁴

/ paɪ /

noun

1. a very small former Indian coin worth one third of a pice

pie

⁵

/ paɪ /

noun

1. history a book for finding the Church service for any particular day

pie

⁶

/ paɪ /

adjective

1. informal,  to be keen on

Other Word Forms

• pielike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of pie¹

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English pi(e), pey; of obscure origin

Origin of pie²

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English pi(e), peie, from Old French, from Latin pīca, akin to pīcus “woodpecker”

Origin of pie³

First recorded in 1470–80; translation of Latin pīca “magpie”; (the allusion is obscure); pica ¹, pie ²

Origin of pie⁴

First recorded in 1855–60; from Hindi pāī “quarter, fourth part,” from Sanskrit pādikā; pada ( def. ); pice ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pie¹

C14: of obscure origin

Origin of pie²

C13: via Old French from Latin pīca magpie; related to Latin pīcus woodpecker

Origin of pie³

C19: from Hindi pā'ī, from Sanskrit pādikā a fourth

Origin of pie⁴

C15: from Medieval Latin pica almanac; see _pica ¹

Origin of pie⁵

from Māori pai ana

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. pie in the sky,

   1. the illusory prospect of future benefits.

      Political promises are often pie in the sky.

   2. a state of perfect happiness; utopia.

      to promise pie in the sky.

2. easy as pie, extremely easy or simple.

3. nice as pie, extremely well-behaved, agreeable, or the like.

   The children were nice as pie.

More idioms and phrases containing pie

• apple-pie order
• easy as pie
• eat crow (humble pie)
• finger in the pie
• slice of the pie

Example Sentences

“Training won’t go away, but it will be less of the share of the pie.”

Read more on MarketWatch

With Stretch Pizza, Dufresne began slinging slices and pies in Manhattan’s Flatiron neighborhood in 2023 and has since expanded to two more locations.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

“I expect the new launches to slow, and then you will see the capital markets focus on those that are already public and helping them raise incremental capital to grow the pie.”

Read more on Wall Street Journal

There will be an evolution, but we have to include China in the pie.

Read more on Barron's

People aren’t just labor inputs into a production function; they are the very thing that makes the economic pie grow.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• cake 
• candy 
• confection 
• cookie 
• fruit 
• ice cream 
• pastry 
• sweet