Etymograph

English

piles

Piles comes from Latin pila ‘ball’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpila1‘ball’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1648piles1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English piles
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1648, Robert Herrick, Another: “Who with thy leaves shall wipe (at need) The…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpilaWiktionary, English piles‘ball’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1648pilesWiktionary, English piles. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1648, Robert Herrick, Another: “Who with thy leaves shall wipe (at need) The…”

Linked words

through Latin pilus ‘hair’

peel, plush, pillage, pilar, 22 more

through Latin pila ‘ball’

pill, pellet, peloton, pila, 6 more

Today it means

noun Haemorrhoids.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “piles”. 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 / Latin pila / piles

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