pith

English

Etymology

Old English piþa, from Proto-Germanic *piþô (compare West Frisian piid (“pulp, kernel”), Dutch peen (“carrot”), Low German Peddik (“pulp, core”)), from earlier *piþō (oblique *pittan). Doublet of pit. The verb meaning "to kill by cutting or piercing the spinal cord" is attested 1805.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɪθ/
• Rhymes: -ɪθ

Noun

pith (usually uncountable, plural piths)

1. (botany) The soft, spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees.
2. The spongy interior substance of a feather.
3. (anatomy) The spinal cord; the marrow.
4. (botany) The albedo of a citrus fruit.
5. (figuratively) The essential or vital part; force; energy; importance.

   The pith of my idea is that people should choose their own work hours.

   • (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     enterprises of great pith and moment

Synonyms

• (essential or necessary part): core, essence, general tenor, gist, heart, heart and soul, inwardness, kernel, marrow, meat, nitty-gritty, nub, quintessence, soul, spirit, stuff, substance; See also Thesaurus:gist

Related terms

• pith helmet
• pithy
• pith and substance

Translations

soft spongy substance in the center of the stems of many plants and trees

• Dutch: merg (nl) n
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: moelle (fr)
• Galician: samo m, sámago m, arro m
• German: Mark (de) n
• Greek: ψίχα (el) f (psícha)
• Hebrew: מהות (mahut)
• Irish: garr m
• Italian: midollino m
• Norwegian: marg (no) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: miękisz m
• Portuguese: medula (pt) f
• Russian: сердцеви́на (ru) f (serdcevína)
• Scottish Gaelic: brìgh f
• Spanish: médula (es), medula, pulpa (es)
• Swedish: flädermärg c, märg (sv) c
• Tagalog: halyas, ubod
• Telugu: దవ్వ (te) (davva)

spongy interior substance of a feather

• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

spinal cord; marrow — see spinal cord,‎ marrow

albedo — see albedo

essential or vital part

• Dutch: kern (nl) m
• Finnish: ydin (fi)
• French: moelle (fr), cœur (fr)
• Galician: miolo m, ámago m, cerne (gl) m
• Greek: μεδούλι (el) n (medoúli), καρδιά (el) f (kardiá), πυρήνας (el) m (pyrínas)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: суть (ru) f (sutʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: brìgh f
• Spanish: médula (es), medula, meollo (es)
• Swedish: kärna (sv) c

Verb

pith (third-person singular simple present piths, present participle pithing, simple past and past participle pithed)

1. (transitive) To extract the pith from (a plant stem or tree).
2. (transitive) To kill (especially cattle or laboratory animals) by cutting or piercing the spinal cord.

Adjective

pith (not comparable)

1. Ordinal form of the number pi

   The pith root of pi is approximately 1.439...

Anagrams

• phit