Pedestal from Italian piedistallo = piede (foot, Latin pēs, PIE *ped-) + stallo (standing place, OHG stal, PIE *stel-). A Renaissance hybrid fusing Latin foot with Germanic standing-place. 'Put someone on a pedestal' = elevate them beyond criticism — raise the statue above common ground.
A base or support on which a statue, column, or other structure is mounted; figuratively, a position of high regard or idealisation.
From Italian 'piedestallo' (foot of a stall, base of a column), composed of 'piede' (foot, from Latin 'pēs/pedis,' foot) + 'di' (of) + 'stallo' (stall, standing place, from a Germanic root akin to Old High German 'stal,' place, stall). The PIE root for 'foot' is *ped- (foot), which generated Latin 'pēs/pedis,' Greek 'pous/podos,' Sanskrit 'pāda,' and Old English 'fōt.' The Germanic 'stallo' connects to the root *steh₂- (to stand), source of 'stable,' 'station
Pedestal is a rare Romance-Germanic hybrid: the first half from PIE *ped- (foot) through Latin, the second from PIE *stel- (to stand) through Old High German. Italian Renaissance architects welded two ancient IE roots from different branches to name the base of a column. The word's structure mirrors what it describes