piece

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See also pièce

Contents

English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

Middle English pece, from Anglo-Norman peece, peice et al. and Old French pece, piece et al., apparently from Late Latin *pettia, *pettium. Ultimate origin uncertain; perhaps from Transalpine Gaulish (compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid (“part”)).

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

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.
  2. A single item belonging to a class of similar items: as, for example, a piece of machinery, a piece of software.
  3. (chess) One of the figures used in playing chess, specifically a higher-value figure as distincguished 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.
  5. An artistic creation, such as a painting, sculpture, musical composition, literary work, etc.
    She played two beautiful pieces on the piano.
  6. An artillery gun.
  7. (US, Canada, colloquial) (short for hairpiece); a toupee or wig, usually when worn by a man.
    The announcer is wearing a new piece.
  8. (Scotland, Ireland, UK dialectal, 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, p. 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.
  9. (US, colloquial) A gun.
    He's packin' a piece!
  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") 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.

Synonyms [edit]

Usage notes [edit]

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.

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from piece (noun)

See also [edit]

Translations [edit]

part of a larger whole
single item belonging to a class of similar items
object played in a board game
small coin
artistic creation
sandwiches, packed lunch
slang: sexual encounter
slang: gun
artillery
slang: cannabis pipe
shoddy or worthless object
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 Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

See also [edit]

Verb [edit]

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

  1. (transitive, usually with together) To reassemble (something real or figurative).

Derived terms [edit]

Terms derived from piece (verb)

Middle French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Gaulish *petsi.

Noun [edit]

piece f (plural pieces)

  1. piece, bit, part

Old French [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Gaulish *petsi, possibly through a Vulgar Latin intermediate *pettia.

Noun [edit]

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

  1. piece, bit, part

Polish [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

  • IPA: [ˈpʲjɛt͡s̪ɛ]

Noun [edit]

piece

  1. nominative plural of piec
  2. accusative plural of piec
  3. vocative plural of piec
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