Etymograph

English

pint

Pint comes from Old French pinte, from Vulgar Latin *pincta ‘a mark used to indicate a level of quantity…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-1‘to mark, paint’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pinéḱti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pingō1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpingō2‘paint’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpicta2‘painted’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pincta2‘a mark used to indicate a level of quantity against a larger measure’reconstructed
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pinte2
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pinte2
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1822pint2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin pingo, which cites Pokorny
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English pint
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, The Monthly Gazette of Health: “The prices of the second class are given by…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*peyḱ-Wiktionary, Latin pingo, which cites Pokorny‘to mark, paint’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pinéḱtiWiktionary, Latin pingo, which cites Pokornyreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pingōWiktionary, Latin pingo, which cites Pokornyreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpingōWiktionary, English pint‘paint’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpictaWiktionary, English pint‘painted’
  6. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pinctaWiktionary, English pint‘a mark used to indicate a level of quantity against a larger measure’reconstructed
  7. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pinteWiktionary, English pint
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pinteWiktionary, English pint
  9. Englishearliest quotation 1822pintWiktionary, English pint. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, The Monthly Gazette of Health: “The prices of the second class are given by…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *peyḱ- ‘to mark, paint’

fish, file, feud, piscina, 26 more

through Latin pingō ‘paint’

picture, paint, depiction, depict, pictorial, pigment, pimento, 8 more

Today it means

noun A unit of volume, equivalent to: 20 fluid ounces, approximately 568 millilitres (an imperial pint).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pint”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pingo. 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 *peyḱ- / pint

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