Faith & RitualGreek → English
Pew
/pjuː/noun
A long fixed bench in a church.
The Greek roots
πόδιον
pódion
little foot, base
Literally: “small raised base”
Follow a root:πόδιον2 words
The story of the word
Greek πόδιον, a small foot or pedestal, became Latin podium, a raised platform, then Old French puie, a raised seat or balcony, and English pew. So the pew and the winner's podium are the same word. The earliest English pews were enclosed boxes rented or bought by families, with doors and sometimes cushions, and the open bench for everyone came in with Victorian church reform.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → Old French → English
- First recorded
- 14th century
Same family
podiumtripodantipodesoctopus
In a sentence
They sat in the third pew from the back, out of habit rather than modesty.