Etymograph

English

pilch

Pilch comes from Middle English pilche ‘a pelisse’, from Late Latin pellicius ‘made of skins’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelnis1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnis1‘skin’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellis1‘skin, fur, hide’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpellicius2as pellicia‘made of skins’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150pylċe2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pilche2‘a pelisse’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604pilch2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pellicius
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pilch
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “will you pluck your sword out of his pilches?”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pel-Wiktionary, Latin pelliciusreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pelnisWiktionary, Latin pelliciusreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pelnisWiktionary, Latin pellicius‘skin’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpellisWiktionary, Latin pellicius‘skin, fur, hide’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEpelliciusWiktionary, English pilchas pellicia‘made of skins’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150pylċeWiktionary, English pilch
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pilcheWiktionary, English pilch‘a pelisse’
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1604pilchWiktionary, English pilch. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1604, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice: “will you pluck your sword out of his pilches?”

The story

A doublet of pelisse; also see pelt (‘skin’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *pel-

felt, simple, simply, film, push, powder, complain, fold, pulse, filter, repeal, flaw, pollen, pillow, palate, compulsive, expel, repel, palpable, palladium, propel, palatable, pall, pelt, wallow, peloton, polemic, tuple, pollinate, palatal, muffle, apoplexy, peplum, pulver, palp, interpolate, 62 more

through Latin pellis ‘skin, fur, hide’

pell, pillion, 5 more

Today it means

noun A gown or case of skin, or one trimmed or lined with fur.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pilch”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pellicius. 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 *pel- / pilch

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