different between pierce vs peter

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /p??s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p??s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)s

Etymology 1

From Middle English perce, from Old French percier, from its conjugated forms such as (jeo) pierce (“I pierce”), probably from Vulgar Latin *pert?si?, from Latin pert?sus, past participle of pertund? (“thrust or bore through”), from per- (“through”) + tund? (“beat, pound”). Displaced native Old English þurhþ?rlian.

Verb

pierce (third-person singular simple present pierces, present participle piercing, simple past and past participle pierced)

1. (transitive) to puncture; to break through

   The diver pierced the surface of the water with scarcely a splash.

   to pierce the enemy's line; a shot pierced the ship

   • I pierce her open back, or tender side

2. (transitive) to create a hole in the skin for the purpose of inserting jewelry

   Can you believe he pierced his tongue?

3. (transitive) to break or interrupt abruptly

   A scream pierced the silence.

4. (transitive, figuratively) To get to the heart or crux of (a matter).

   to pierce a mystery

5. (transitive, figuratively) To penetrate; to affect deeply.

Derived terms

• piercing

Descendants

• ? Dutch: piercing
• ? Japanese: ???

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Japanese ??? (piasu, “pierced earring”), itself from English pierce

Noun

pierce (plural pierces)

1. (Japan) A pierced earring

Anagrams

• Peirce, piecer, recipe, recipé

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?pi?t?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?pit?/, /?pi??/
• Rhymes: -i?t?(?)
• Homophone: pita (non-rhotic accents)
• Hyphenation: pe?ter

Etymology 1

US, 1902, presumably from shared initial pe-. Compare the use of other men’s names as a slang term for the penis, e.g., dick, willy, John Thomas, etc.

Noun

peter (plural peters)

1. (slang) The penis.
   • 1997: Shelby Scates, Warren G. Magnuson and the Shaping of Twentieth-Century America [2]

     You smile, act polite, shake their hands, then cut off their peters and put them in your pocket.” “Yes, Mr. President,” answered O'Brien.

   • 1998: Michael Robert Gorman, The Empress Is a Man: Stories from the Life of Jose Sarria [3]

     ... and you were there, and they acted like you weren't even born yet?' "I'd say, 'Yes, their memories are as long as their peters.'"

   • 2002: Celia H Miles, Mattie's Girl: An Appalachian Childhood [4]

     “It's to put on their peters when they don't want to make babies,” she said.

Translations

Etymology 2

Noun

peter (plural peters)

1. (Britain, slang) A safe.

   Synonym: pete

   • 1963, Kenneth Ullyett, Crime out of Hand (page 109)

     It used to be simple to 'crack a peter'. Safe-breaking (blowing or cracking a 'peter') in the past three or four years shows that the expert cracksman knows his job.

Derived terms

• peterman

Etymology 3

1812, US miners’ slang, Unknown. Various speculative etymologies have been suggested. One suggestion is that it comes from peter being an abbreviation of saltpeter, the key ingredient in gunpowder – when a mine was exhausted, it was “petered”. Other derivations are from St. Peter (from sense of “rock”), or French péter (“to fart”).

Verb

peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)

1. (most often used in the phrase peter out) To dwindle; to trail off; to diminish to nothing.
   • 2021, Helen Fisher, Faye, Faraway (page 241)

     My words petered away.

Usage notes

Originally used independently, but today most often in the derived phrase peter out.

Etymology 4

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Verb

peter (third-person singular simple present peters, present participle petering, simple past and past participle petered)

1. (card games, intransitive) Synonym of blue peter

References

Anagrams

• Peret, Petre, Prete, peert, petre, repet.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch peter, from petrijn, from Latin patr?nus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pe?.t?r/
• Hyphenation: pe?ter
• Rhymes: -e?t?r

Noun

peter m (plural peters, feminine meter)

1. A godfather.

   Synonym: peetoom