pied-à-terre
Americannoun
-
pieds-à-terre
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected 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.
See Examples For:
On Monday, a Staten Island judge held arguments on the legality of the pied-à-terre tax launch, or as Mastro described it in court, “a botched rollout of unparalleled proportions.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
City council member Gale Brewer said she and some other council members supported the pied-à-terre tax, but pointed to "challenges" with its implementation.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Haber said he believes the loss of tax revenue from fewer people purchasing pricey homes in New York would offset the effects of the pied-à-terre tax.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026
Efforts to fulfill some of his marquee campaign pledges have stumbled, including the messy launch of the pied-à-terre tax.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
If you cannot give any pied-à-terre in the Palace for these few hours, they will remain in an hotel.
From The Letters of Queen Victoria : A Selection from Her Majesty's Correspondence between the Years 1837 and 1861 Volume 1, 1837-1843 by Reginald Baliol Brett, Viscount Esher
As noted by the Wall Street Journal, the tax would “target wealthy individuals who own these pieds-à-terre but primarily live outside the city” and is aimed at closing the city’s $12 billion annual budget gap.
From MarketWatch ● May 1, 2026
Some agents expect their clients shopping for pieds-à-terre will begin hunting for homes specifically below $5 million, undercutting any efforts to raise new revenue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
Hochul says the measure would raise $500 million a year by taxing pieds-à-terre and help close a $12 billion New York City budget gap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Some of Dr. Zhang’s patients, envisioning further babies and more in vitro fertilization procedures and births in New York, wind up buying pieds-à-terre on West 57th Street, he told me.
From New York Times ● Apr. 27, 2017
Many of its apartments are leased out by companies that offer temporary housing to corporate executives or are used as pieds-à-terre.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2012
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
