pilwe

Middle English

Alternative forms

• pilue, pilew, pelew, pilow, pylwe, pylow, pule, pyle, pile, pelewe, pilewe, pelowe, pilowe

Etymology

From Old English pyle, pylu, pylwe, from Proto-West Germanic *pulwī, from Latin pulvīnus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpilwə/, /ˈpilɔu̯/, /ˈpiliu̯/, /ˈpɛl-/

Noun

pilwe (plural pilwes)

1. A soft stuffed bag; a cushion or pillow.
   • 1395, Geoffrey Chaucer, Canterbury Tales:

     To visite this Damyan goth May
     And subtilly this lettre doun she threste
     Vnder his pilwe.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (rare) A pad; a piece of cushioning.
3. (rare) A supporting piece of metal.

Derived terms

• *pilwebere
  • English: pillowber
    • → Irish: piliúr, peiliúr
  • Scots: pillaebeir

Descendants

• English: pillow
  • → Maori: pera
• Scots: pillae

References

• “pilwe, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-09-14.