pied-à-terre
Americannoun
noun
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.
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 third is taxing the rich, citing state authorization of a new pied-à-terre tax on second homes, generating $500 million.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
Mayor Mamdani also met with other New York CEOs, including Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, following backlash to a pied-à-terre tax video.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul revealed new details about her proposal to tax New York City’s second homes, including that she expects fewer homes would be subjected to this pied-à-terre tax than her previous estimate.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
He had none in his own tiny pied-à-terre and he missed it.
From The Bent Twig by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
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.
