piece
[ pees ]
/ pis /
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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.
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Idioms about piece
Origin of piece
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English pece, pes(e), pesse, from Old French, from unattested Gaulish pettia; akin to Breton pez “piece,” Welsh, Cornish peth “thing”
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, adjectiveun·pieced, adjectiveWORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH piece
peace, pieceDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use piece in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for piece
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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Other Idioms and Phrases with piece
piece
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.