piece

See also: pièce

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷesdis (“piece, portion”); doublet of English fit, fytte, fytt (“musical piece, chapter”), Icelandic fit (“web”), German Fitze (“skein”), from Old High German *fitjâ. Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza.

Pronunciation
  • enPR: pēs, IPA(key): /piːs/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -iːs
  • Homophone: peace

Noun

piece (plural pieces)

  1. A part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
    I’d like another piece of pie.
  2. A single item belonging to a class of similar items
    a piece of machinery
    a piece of software
    A useful piece of advice
    • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].
  3. (chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distinguished from a pawn; by extension, a similar counter etc. in other games.
    • 1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, I:
      Pawns, unlike pieces, move only in one direction: forward.
  4. A coin, especially one valued at less than the principal unit of currency.
    a sixpenny piece
  5. An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.
    She played two beautiful pieces on the piano.
  6. (military) An artillery gun.
    • 1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, p. 55,
      […] all our Ammunition was spent. Those of us who had Money made Slugs of it; their next Shift was to take the middle Screws out of their Guns, and charge their Pieces with them.
  7. (US, colloquial) A gun.
    He's packin' a piece!
    • 2005, “Bloody War”, in Certified, performed by David Banner:
      I wanted peace, but now my piece is clearing out the block.
  8. (US, Canada, colloquial, short for hairpiece) A toupee or wig, especially when worn by a man.
    The announcer is wearing a new piece.
  9. (Scotland, Ireland, Britain, US, dialectal) A slice or other quantity of bread, eaten on its own; a sandwich or light snack.
    • 2008, James Kelman, Kieron Smith, Boy, Penguin 2009, page 46:
      My grannie came and gived them all a piece and jam and cups of water then I was to bring them back out to the street and play a game.
  10. (US, colloquial, vulgar) A sexual encounter; from piece of ass or piece of tail
    I got a piece at lunchtime.
  11. (US, colloquial, mildly vulgar, short for piece of crap/piece of shit) A shoddy or worthless object (usually applied to consumer products like vehicles or appliances).
    Ugh, my new computer is such a piece. I'm taking it back to the store tomorrow.
  12. (US, slang) A cannabis pipe.
  13. (baseball) Used to describe a pitch that has been hit but not well, usually either being caught by the opposing team or going foul. Usually used in the past tense with got, and never used in the plural.
    he got a piece of that one;  she got a piece of the ball […] and it's going foul.
  14. (dated, sometimes derogatory) An individual; a person.
    • Sir Philip Sidney
      If I had not been a piece of a logician before I came to him.
    • Shakespeare
      Thy mother was a piece of virtue.
    • Coleridge
      His own spirit is as unsettled a piece as there is in all the world.
  15. (obsolete) A castle; a fortified building.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Spenser to this entry?)
  16. (US) A pacifier.
  17. (colloquial) A distance.
    a far piece
    located a fair piece away from their camp
    a fair piece off

Synonyms

Usage notes

When used as a baseball term, the term is idiomatic in that the baseball is almost never broken into pieces. It is rare in modern baseball for the cover of a baseball to even partially tear loose. In professional baseball, several new, not previously played baseballs are used in each game.

It could be argued that the phrase was never meant (not even metaphorically) to refer to breaking the ball into pieces, and that "get a piece of the ball" means the bat contacts only a small area of the ball - in other words, that the ball is hit off-center. In that case "get" would mean "succeed in hitting", not "obtain".

Derived terms
Terms derived from piece (noun)

See also
Chess pieces in English · chess pieces, chessmen (see also: chess) (layout · text)
king queen castle, rook bishop knight pawn

Translations
hairpiece — see hairpiece
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

Verb

piece (third-person singular simple present pieces, present participle piecing, simple past and past participle pieced)

  1. (transitive, usually with together) To assemble (something real or figurative).
    These clues allowed us to piece together the solution to the mystery.
    • Fuller
      His adversaries […] pieced themselves together in a joint opposition against him.
  2. To make, enlarge, or repair, by the addition of a piece or pieces; to patch; often with out.
    to piece a garment
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  3. (slang) To produce a work of graffiti more complex than a tag.
    • 2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground (page 40)
      It is incorrect to say that toys tag and masters piece; toys just do bad tags, bad throw-ups, and bad pieces.
    • 2009, Scape Martinez, GRAFF: The Art & Technique of Graffiti (page 124)
      It is often used to collect other writer's tags, and future plans for bombing and piecing.

Derived terms
Terms derived from piece (verb)
  • repiece

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French piece, from Vulgar Latin *pettia, from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷesdis (“piece, portion”).

Noun

piece f (plural pieces)

  1. piece, bit, part
  2. moment (duration of time)
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 75:
      Grant piece dura celle meslee
      The battle lasted a long time

Descendants

References
  • piece on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330-1500) (in French)

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Late Latin pettia, from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷesdis (“piece, portion”).

Noun

piece f (oblique plural pieces, nominative singular piece, nominative plural pieces)

  1. piece, bit, part
  2. circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
    • Que del hiaume une piece tranche.
      It cuts a piece off his helmet

Descendants

Polish

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈpʲɛ.t͡sɛ/

Noun

piece m inan

  1. inflection of piec:
    1. nominative plural
    2. accusative plural
    3. vocative plural
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.