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

Comedians telling jokes about politicians, including the president, are as American as apple pie and the whoopee cushion — that is, until this year’s festival.

Read more on Salon

“I love sweet potato pie! What are you talking about?”

Read more on Salon

The Foundation typically raises about $7 million to $8 million a year, with an operating budget of nearly $11 million, so money raised through the Literary Feasts is a significant slice of the funding pie.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It included comments next to rowers' names including "Put the pies down", "Get a haircut" and "Watching you row is like watching paint dry".

Read more on BBC

If artificial intelligence unleashes a productivity miracle, that could grow the size of the whole pie.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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