English
pivot
Pivot comes from Old French pivot ‘hinge pin, pivot’, from Latin pūgiō ‘a dagger’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to punch, fist-fight’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewǵ-1‘to punch, fist-fight’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūgiō2‘a dagger’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pivot2‘hinge pin, pivot’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pevet2
- Englishearliest quotation 1904–1905pivot2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin pugio
- 2 Wiktionary, English pivot
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace: ““The story of this adoption is, of course, the…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*pewǵ-Wiktionary, Latin pugio‘to punch, fist-fight’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpūgiōWiktionary, English pivot‘a dagger’uncertain
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400pivotWiktionary, English pivot‘hinge pin, pivot’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pevetWiktionary, English pivot
- Englishearliest quotation 1904–1905pivotWiktionary, English pivot. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace: ““The story of this adoption is, of course, the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *pewǵ- ‘to punch, fist-fight’
point, fuck, punch, fist, poignant, puncture, pungent, repugnant, pygmy, punto, punctuate, compunction, pugnacious, impugn, pugilist, 41 more
Today it means
noun A thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “pivot”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin pugio. 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 *pewǵ- / pivot