pied-à-terre
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pied-à-terre
1820–30; < French: literally, foot on ground
Explanation
When your friend talks about his pied-a-terre in the city, it's just his fancy way of mentioning the apartment he keeps there to stay in from time to time. This borrowing from French, literally "foot on ground," designates a small second home. Dictionaries are in general content to stop their explanation of the origins of pied-a-terre by simply translating it, as if this were sufficient to explain how it inherited this meaning. On the other hand, it would hardly be a home if you didn't have your foot on the ground there some time.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The sister act also owned a pied-à-terre in Manhattan.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
The so-called pied-à-terre tax hits co-op and condo owners with properties assessed at $1 million or more and owners of houses assessed at $5 million or more.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
Real-estate executives and other business leaders had pushed back on the New York City pied-à-terre tax, saying it would be costly to implement and not provide much bang for its buck.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
THE pied-à-terre tax is something of a compromise to a compromise.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
On the same line, but below the hillock on which stood the church, the Abouna possessed a few houses and a garden; but, alas for him, his pied-à-terre had for several years become his prison.
From Narrative of Captivity in Abyssinia with Some Account of the Late Emperor the Late Emperor Theodore, His Country and People by Blanc, Dr. Henri
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
