peior

• pejor

Probably from Proto-Indo-European *ped-yōs (“to the ground, downward”), from *ped- (“to walk, fall, stumble”); compare pessimus (“worst”). Michiel de Vaan notes that a similar phonetic change *[dj]/[jd] > *[j] can be observed in the etymology of caelum (“chisel”) and caia (“cudgel”) from Proto-Italic *kaid(s)lo- and *kaidjā- respectively.

Doublet of pēs (“foot”) and pessum (“to the bottom; to destruction”). See cognates at pēs.

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpej.jor/, [ˈpɛj.jɔr]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈpej.jor/

peior (neuter peius); third declension

1. worse

Third declension, comparative variant

• melior

• peiōrō

• pessimus (superlative)

• peior in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “peiior”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 455
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “pessum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 463
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “caedō, -ere”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 79–80

From Latin pēiōrem, accusative singular of pēior. The nominative form, pire (whence modern French pire) derives from the Latin nominative.

peior (oblique singular, nominative singular pire)

1. worse; comparative degree of mal
   • circa 1180, Chrétien de Troyes, 'Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette':

     Qui peior que Sarrazin sont.

     Who are worse than Saracens.

2. worst; superlative degree of mal

• meillor (“best”)

• French: pire (from nominative form)

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (peior, includes information on declension)
• peior on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub