Pietas

[pahy-i-tas]

noun

the ancient Roman personification of familial affection, patriotism, and piety.

Pietà

[pee-ey-tah, pyey-tah, pee-ey-tuh, pyey-]

noun (sometimes lowercase) Fine Arts.

a representation of the Virgin Mary mourning over the body of the dead Christ, usually shown held on her lap.

Origin of Pietà

1635–45; < Italian: literally, pity < Latin pietās piety; cf. pity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for pietas

Historical Examples of pietas

Nor can there be any need to show that the name Pola is not a contraction of Pietas Julia.
Sketches from the Subject and Neighbour Lands of Venice
Edward A. Freeman
Thus the Roman Poets consider their State in course of ruin because its prisci mores and pietas were failing.
An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine
John Henry Cardinal Newman
The words that suggest most clearly the Roman attitude towards what we call charity are liberalitas, beneficentia and pietas.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 8
Various
Pietas has the religious note which the other words lack, loving dutifulness to gods and home and country.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 8
Various
Pietas is Virgil's word for religion, as it had been Cicero's in his more exalted moments.
The Religious Experience of the Roman People
W. Warde Fowler

British Dictionary definitions for pietas

pietà

noun

a sculpture, painting, or drawing of the dead Christ, supported by the Virgin Mary

Word Origin for pietà

Italian: pity, from Latin pietās piety

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pietas

Pieta

"Virgin holding the dead body of Christ," 1640s, from Italian pieta, from Latin pietatem (see piety).

pietas in Culture

Pietà

[(pyay-tah; pee-ay-tah)]

A painting, drawing, or sculpture of Mary, the mother of Jesus, holding the dead body of Jesus. The word means “pity” in Italian.

Note

The most famous of four Pietàs by Michelangelo is a sculpture at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.