peu

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan peu, from Latin pedem.

Cognate with Occitan pè; French pied; Asturian and Spanish pie; and Galician and Portuguese pé.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈpɛw]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛw

Noun

peu m (plural peus)

1. (anatomy) foot, a part of the body

   (idiomatic) No tenir cap ni peus ― to be something absurd (an idiom, literally Not having a head nor feet)

   (idiomatic) Caure l'ànima als peus (a algú) ― (somebody) to suffer an unpleasant surprise or a sudden fear (an idiom, literally To fall one's soul to one's feet)

   (idiomatic) Poder-hi pujar de peus ― to rely on an outcome, to be absolutely certain of something (an idiom, literally To be allowed to go up something on one's feet)

   (idiomatic) Ficar els peus a la galleda ― to make a mistake, to suffer a failure (an idiom, literally To put one's feet in the bucket)

   (idiomatic) Sortir amb els peus per davant ― to die, to be taken to burial (an idiom, literally To get out with one's feet in front)

2. (historical, measure) pie, Spanish foot, a former unit of length
3. (design, typography) footer, the bottom of a page or design

   peu de pàgina ― page footer

References

• “peu” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “peu” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Etymology

Inherited from Old French poi, from Latin paucus, from Proto-Italic *paukos, ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *peh₂w- (“few”, “little”). Compare Catalan poc, Italian poco, Portuguese pouco, Spanish poco. Cognate with English few.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pø/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: peux, peut
• Rhymes: -ø

Adverb

peu (comparative moins, superlative le moins)

1. little; not very much/many

   Il est peu intelligent.

   He is not very intelligent.

   (literally, “He is little intelligent.”)

   Pour obtenir de bons prix certains négociateurs emploieraient parfois des méthodes peu conventionnelles

   To get good prices, certain negotiators sometimes employ unconventional methods

Noun

peu m (uncountable)

1. few

   peu de gens sont d’accord ― few people agree

   Beaucoup sont appelés mais peu sont élus. ― Many are called but few are elected.

   Le peu de services qu’il a rendus ont paru mériter une récompense.

   The few services he gave seemed deserving of a reward.

   Le peu de qualités dont il a fait preuve l’a fait éconduire.

   The few qualities he had demonstrated caused him to be rejected.

2. little

   un peu ― a little

   Je te donne le peu d’argent que j’ai

   I'll give you the little money I have

   Je n’aime pas beaucoup ce café mais j’en ai bu un peu

   I don't like this coffee very much but I drank some of it

   Les galaxies lenticulaires ont perdu ou transformé la majorité de leur matière interstellaire, si bien qu’on n’y observe que très peu de formation d’étoiles, alors même qu’elles peuvent contenir une grande quantité de poussière.

   Lenticular galaxies have lost or transformed the majority of their interstellar matter, so that we can observe very little formation of stars, even though they can contain a great quantity of dust.

Derived terms

Further reading

• “peu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• pue, pué

Etymology

From Latin pāgus (“district, province”).

Noun

peu f (peuoeð)

1. land, nation

Mutation

References

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “pau”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

Etymology

From Old French peor, from Latin pavor, pavōrem (“fear, fright”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pøː/

Noun

peu f (plural peus)

1. fear