English
piyyut
Piyyut comes from Hebrew פִּיּוּט ‘a liturgical poem’, from Ancient Greek ποιητής ‘a maker, inventor, lawgiver’, and ultimately from Proto-Hellenic *kʷoiwéyō ‘to make’.
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoiwéyō1‘to make’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποιέω2‘to make’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποιητής3‘a maker, inventor, lawgiver’
- Hebrew1880s–presentפִּיּוּט4piyút‘a liturgical poem’
- Englishtodaypiyyut4
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποιέω
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek ποιητής
- 3 Wiktionary, Hebrew פיוט
- 4 Wiktionary, English piyyut
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*kʷoiwéyōWiktionary, Ancient Greek ποιέω‘to make’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποιέωWiktionary, Ancient Greek ποιητής‘to make’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEποιητήςWiktionary, Hebrew פיוט‘a maker, inventor, lawgiver’
- Hebrew1880s–presentפִּיּוּטWiktionary, English piyyutpiyút‘a liturgical poem’
- EnglishtodaypiyyutWiktionary, English piyyut
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kʷey- ‘to pile, stow, gather’
pain, penalty, punishment, punish, pine, titanium, penal, punitive, subpoena, impunity, whey, 20 more
through Ancient Greek ποιέω ‘to make’
poem, poetic, onomatopoeia, 6 more
through Ancient Greek ποιητής ‘a maker, inventor, lawgiver’
Today it means
noun A Jewish liturgical poem.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “piyyut”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek ποιέω, Ancient Greek ποιητής, Hebrew פיוט. 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-Hellenic *kʷoiwéyō / piyyut