piety

See also: pięty

English

Alternative forms

pietie (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English piete, borrowed from Middle French pieté, from Latin pietās. See also the doublets pietà and pity. By surface analysis, pious +‎ -ety.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈpaɪ.ɪ.ti/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
Rhymes: -aɪɪti
Hyphenation: pi‧e‧ty

Noun

piety (countable and uncountable, plural pieties)

(uncountable, religion) Reverence and devotion to God.
Colleen's piety led her to make sacrifices that most people would not have made.
(uncountable) Similar reverence to one's parents and family or to one's country.
patriotism as piety, when done right
(countable) A devout or otherwise laudable act, thought, or statement.
1. A platitude that may be empty or at least facile and undercommitted.
  He was quick with the pieties about hard work, honest communication, active listening, and respecting others' viewpoints, but walking the walk is different from talking the talk.

Derived terms

Related terms

pious
pietà

Translations

reverence and devotion to God

Arabic: تَقْوَى (taqwā)
Armenian: բարեպաշտություն (hy) (barepaštutʻyun)
Bulgarian: набожност (bg) (nabožnost)
Catalan: pietat (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 虔誠 / 虔诚 (zh) (qiánchéng)
Czech: zbožnost f, nábožnost f
Dutch: vroomheid (nl)
Esperanto: pieco
Finnish: hurskaus (fi)
French: piété (fr) f
Galician: piedade (gl) f
Georgian: ღვთისმოსაობა (ɣvtismosaoba), ღვთისმოშიშობა (ɣvtismošišoba)
German: Frömmigkeit (de) f
Greek: ευσέβεια (el) f (efséveia)
Ancient Greek: εὐσέβεια f (eusébeia)
Hungarian: vallásosság (hu)
Irish: crábhadh m, cráifeacht f, beannaíocht f
Italian: pietà (it)
Japanese: 篤信 (ja) (とくしん, tokushin)
Kazakh: құдайшылдық (qūdaişyldyq)
Latvian: pietāte (lv) f
Macedonian: на́божност f (nábožnost), благоче́стие n (blagočéstie)
Manx: craueeaght f
Maori: whakaponotanga
Occitan: pietat (oc) f
Polish: pobożność (pl) f, bogobojność (pl) f
Portuguese: piedade (pt) f
Romanian: evlavie (ro), pietate (ro)
Russian: на́божность (ru) (nábožnostʹ), благоче́стие (ru) n (blagočéstije)
Scottish Gaelic: cràbhadh m
Spanish: piedad (es) f
Swedish: fromhet (sv) c
Turkish: dindarlık (tr), sofuluk (tr), takva (tr), züht (tr)
Ukrainian: набо́жність f (nabóžnistʹ)
Yiddish: פֿרומקייט f (frumkeyt)

reverence to one's family

Arabic: بِرّ m (birr)
Finnish: kunnioitus (fi)
German: Pietät (de) f
Greek: σεβασμός (el) m (sevasmós)
Japanese: 敬愛 (ja) (けいあい, kēai)
Turkish: saygı (tr), hürmet (tr), ihtiram (tr)

devout act or thought

Arabic: تُقًى m (tuqan)
Finnish: kunnioitus (fi)
Hungarian: áhítat (hu)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: ^{(please verify)} piété (fr) f
Italian: ^{(please verify)} pietà (it) f
Korean: ^{(please verify)} 경건 (ko) (gyeonggeon)
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} piedad (es) f

Middle English

Noun

piety

Alternative form of piete