Etymology

pedal

P3E1D2A1L1

Today it means: A lever operated by one's foot that is used to control or power a machine or mechanism, such as a bicycle or piano. Full definition →

French pédale ← Italian pedale ← Latin pedālis
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pedal · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ped-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pṓds
  3. Proto-Italic*pets
  4. Latinpēs
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Latinpedālis
  8. Italianpedale
  9. Frenchpédale
  10. English todaypedal

Borrowed from French pédale, itself borrowed from Italian pedale, from Latin pedālis. By surface analysis, ped- + -al.

pedal · adjective2

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ped-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*pṓds
  3. Proto-Italic*pets
  4. Latinpēs
  5. Proto-Indo-European*h₂el-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*h₂élisder.?
  7. Latinpedāli
  8. English todaypedal

Learned borrowing from Latin pedālis. Cognate with French pédal (doublet of the pédale mentioned in § Etymology 1). Same surface analysis as in § Etymology 1.

Words from the same roots

Latinpedālis all →

pedalesesquipedalian

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.