Etymograph

English

pity

Pity comes from Anglo-Norman pité, from Latin pietās ‘dutiful conduct, sense of duty and…’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewH- ‘to be clean, pure’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-1‘to be clean, pure’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pwījotāts2reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpietās1‘dutiful conduct, sense of duty and responsibility’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pitet1
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400pité1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pitye1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1558pity1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pity
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin pietas
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1558, Thomas Watson: “Euen so on the other syde a mans harte…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewH-Wiktionary, English pity‘to be clean, pure’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*pwījotātsWiktionary, Latin pietasreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpietāsWiktionary, English pity‘dutiful conduct, sense of duty and responsibility’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pitetWiktionary, English pity
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400pitéWiktionary, English pity
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pityeWiktionary, English pity
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1558pityWiktionary, English pity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1558, Thomas Watson: “Euen so on the other syde a mans harte…”

Linked words

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

pure, reputation, deputy, pour, purification, purity, purify, pious, putative, purist, puro, expiation, 17 more

through Latin pietās ‘dutiful conduct, sense of duty and…’

piety, pittance, 1 more

Today it means

noun A feeling of sympathy at the misfortune or suffering of someone or something.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pietas. 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- / pity

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