LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

pila1

pila f (genitive pilae)
Classical[ˈpɪ.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[ˈpiː.la]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. feminineball
  2. femininefigurativelya game of ball
    Persequi singulos longum est quorum aut latrunculi aut pila aut excoquendi in sole corporis cura consumpsere vitam.It would be tedious to mention all the different men who have spent the whole of their life over chess or ball or the practice of baking their bodies in the sun.c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, De brevitate vitae 13
  3. feminineglobe, sphere

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Mille Verba cover
orbis mollis quem puerī iaciunt et capiunt; pilā lūdimus.
pila -ae f — in Mille Verba, ch. Lūdī et Ōtium

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepilapilae
genitivepilaepilārum
dativepilaepilīs
accusativepilampilās
ablativepilāpilīs
vocativepilapilae

Lewis & Short A Latin Dictionary, 1879

pĭla, ae (
I. gen. sing. pilaï, Lucr. 5, 713; 720; 726), f. etym. dub.; perh. akin to Gr. πάλλω, brandish; Lat. pellere, drive; v. Corss. 1, 525 sqq., a ball, playing-ball (syn. follis).
I. Lit.: pilā expulsim ludere, Varr. ap. Non. 104, 29: di nos quasi pilas homines habent, Plaut. Capt. prol. 22; id. Most. 1, 2, 73: pilae studio teneri, Cic. de Or. 3, 23, 88; Hor. S. 1, 5, 49: cum lapsa e manibus fugit pila, Verg. Cir. 149, Prop. 3, 12 (4, 13), 5: pila cadit aut mittentis vitio, aut accipientis . . . (pila) jactata et excepta, Sen. Ben. 2, 17, 3: pilam scite et diligenter excipere . . . apte et expedite remittere, id. ib. 2, 32, 1: pilam repetere, quae terram contigit, Petr. 27: reddere pilam, Mart. 14, 46, 2. There were four sorts of pilæ: trigonalis, paganica, follis, harpastum.—Prov.: mea pila est, I have the ball, I have caught it, I've won, Plaut. Truc. 4, 1, 7: claudus pilam, Cic. Pis. 28, 69; v. claudus: Fortunae pila, the foot-ball of fortune, Aur. Vict. Epit. 18.—
II. Transf.
A. The game of ball: quantum alii tribuunt alveolo, quantum pilae, Cic. Arch. 6, 13.—
B. Of any thing round, a ball or globe of any material: pilae lanuginis, Plin. 12, 10, 21, § 38: scarabaei e fimo ingentes pilas aversi pedibus volutant, id. 11, 28, 34, § 98.—Of the globe of the earth (ante-class.): in terrae pila, Varr. ap. Non. 333, 25.—The ancients made use of a glass or crystal ball filled with water as a burning-glass: cum addită aquā vitreae pilae sole adverso in tantum excandescunt, ut vestes exurant, Plin. 36, 26, 67, § 199; 37, 2, 10, § 28.—The Roman ladies carried a crystal or amber ball to keep their hands cool, Prop. 2, 18, 60 (3, 18, 12); Mart. 11, 8.—Of the ball or lump of earth which adheres to the roots of a bush when torn up, Col. 5, 9. —Of the ballots or bails used by judges in voting, Prop. 4 (5), 11, 19; Ascon. Argum. Milon. fin.—Of stuffed balls or human figures: pilae et effigies viriles et muliebres ex lanā Compitalibus suspendebantur in compitis. quod hunc diem festum esse deorum inferorum quos vocant Lares, putarent: quibus tot pilae, quot capita servorum; tot effigies, quot essent liberi. ponebantur, ut vivis parcerent et essent his pilis et simulacris contenti, Paul. ex Fest. p. 239 Müll. Bulls were baited by throwing similar stuffed figures at their heads, Mart. Spect. 19, 2: quantus erat cornu, cui pila taurus erat! id. ib. 9; hence, sed cui primus erat lusor dum floruit aetas, Nunc postquam desiit ludere prima pila est, id. ib. 10, 86. As these effigies were usually torn by the throwing, the term is also applied to a torn toga, Mart. 2, 43, 6.—
C. In partic.: pilae Nursicae, i. e. rapae rotundae, Mart. 13, 20, 2.

Origins

Likely from pilus (“hair”), thus originally meaning "bundle of hair".

Descendants
  • Frenchpelotefrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Catalanpilotafrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Portuguesepelotafrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Spanishpelotafrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Italianpilottafrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Italianpillottafrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Galicianpelotafrom Vulgar Latin *pilotta
  • Esperantopilkofrom Polish piłka
  • Cornishpelfrom Proto-Brythonic *pel
  • Welshpêlfrom Proto-Brythonic *pel
noun · femininefirst declension
pīla2
pīla f (genitive pīlae)
Classical[ˈpiː.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[ˈpiː.la]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. pillar
  2. pier

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepīlapīlae
genitivepīlaepīlārum
dativepīlaepīlīs
accusativepīlampīlās
ablativepīlāpīlīs
vocativepīlapīlae

Lewis & Short A Latin Dictionary, 1879

pīlă, ae, f. for pigla, from root pag-, pig-, of pango, pe-pig-i, q. v.,
I. a pillar (syn. columna): pila, quae parietem sustentat, ab opponendo dicta est, Paul. ex Fest. p. 204 Müll.: locavit pilas pontis in Tiberim, Liv. 40, 51: salax taberna a pileatis nona fratribus pila, of the temple of Castor and Pollux, Cat. 37, 1: nulla taberna meos habeat neque pila libellos, i. e. they are not to be publicly sold (as the booksellers had their stalls around the pillars of public buildings), Hor. S. 1, 4, 71; Vitr. 6, 11: pilas operibus subdere, Sen. Q. N. 6, 302; Plin. 11, 10, 10, § 23; Mart. 7, 61, 5.—
II. Transf., a pier or mole of stone: saxea, Verg. A. 9, 711; Vitr. 5, 12; Suet. Claud. 20; Sil. 4, 297.

Origins

From Proto-Italic *peilā, further etymology unknown. The Latin denominal pīlāre (“to fix firmly”) finds a parallel in Oscan ehpeílatasset (“[the stele] has been erected”, 3p pf. pass.). Cf., for more, Ancient Greek πῠ́λη (pŭ́lē).

Descendants
  • Catalanpila
  • Italianpila
  • Frenchpilefrom Old French pile
  • Englishpilefrom Old French pile
  • Portuguesepilhafrom Old Galician-Portuguese pia
  • Spanishpila
  • Galicianpíafrom Old Galician-Portuguese pia
  • Sicilianpila
noun · femininefirst declension
pīla3
pīla f (genitive pīlae)
Classical[ˈpiː.ɫa]Ecclesiastical[ˈpiː.la]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. mortar (used with a pestle)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativepīlapīlae
genitivepīlaepīlārum
dativepīlaepīlīs
accusativepīlampīlās
ablativepīlāpīlīs
vocativepīlapīlae

Lewis & Short A Latin Dictionary, 1879

pīla, ae, f. perh. for pisula, from root pis-; v. pinso, piso,
I. a mortar (syn. mortarium): pila, ubi triticum pinsant, Cato, R. R. 14; Ov. Ib. 573: zeae granum tunditur in pilā ligneā, Plin. 18, 11, 29, § 112: si contuderis stultum in pilā, Vulg. Prov. 27, 22: sal sordidum in pilā pisatum, Paul. ex Fest. p. 158 Müll.

Origins

Probably from Proto-Italic *pistlā, from Proto-Indo-European *pis-tlo-, from *peys- (“to crush”), whence also pīlum (“pestle, pounder”), pīnsō (“to pound, crush”).

Descendants
  • Catalanpica
  • Englishpile
  • Frenchpile
  • Italianpila
  • Italianpilla
  • Portuguesepiafrom Old Galician-Portuguese pia
  • Romanianpiuă
  • Spanishpila
  • Friulianpile
  • Galicianpíafrom Old Galician-Portuguese pia