Etymograph

English

piacle

Piacle comes from Latin piāculum ‘propitiatory sacrifice, expiation, atonement’, from Proto-Italic *pīos ‘pious’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘to be clean, pure’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-1‘to be clean, pure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pīos1‘pious’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pīāō1‘to expiate’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiō2‘to appease, purify, expiate’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiāculum3‘propitiatory sacrifice, expiation, atonement’
  6. Englishtodaypiacle3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin piaculum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English piacle

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-Wiktionary, Latin pio‘to be clean, pure’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pīosWiktionary, Latin pio‘pious’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pīāōWiktionary, Latin pio‘to expiate’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiōWiktionary, Latin piaculum‘to appease, purify, expiate’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiāculumWiktionary, English piacle‘propitiatory sacrifice, expiation, atonement’
  6. EnglishtodaypiacleWiktionary, English piacle

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘to be clean, pure’

pure, deputy, reputation, pour, purity, pity, purification, purify, putative, piety, purist, puro, impious, 15 more

through Proto-Italic *pīos ‘pious’

pious, 6 more

through Latin piō ‘to appease, purify, expiate’

expiation, 4 more

Today it means

noun A heinous offense that requires expiation.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “piacle”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin pio, Latin piaculum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *pewH- / piacle

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