'Pillar' may trace to PIE *peyH- (to swell) — a column imagined as a thick mass of stone.
Definition
A tall vertical structure of stone, wood, or metal, used as a support for a building or as an ornament or monument.
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Latin via Old French13th centurywell-attested
From Middle English 'piler,' from OldFrench 'pilier,' from Vulgar Latin *'pilāre' or from Latin 'pīla' (a pillar, pier, mole, breakwater). TheLatin 'pīla' presents a fascinating homonymy: it also meant 'ball' (a round object) and possibly 'mortar' (a vessel for grinding). The deeperPIE origin is contested. One lineage connects it to PIE *peyH- (to be
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The word 'caterpillar' may contain 'pillar' — Old French 'chatepelose' (hairy cat) was folk-etymologized into 'caterpillar,' possibly influenced by 'pillar' or 'piller' (plunderer), since caterpillars were seen as pillagers of leaves. The connection to architectural pillars is accidental.
. In architectural metaphor, 'pillar' extended early to mean any person or thing that provides central support — 'a pillar of the community' — a usage already present in Old French. The word entered English via Norman French in the 13th century. Key roots: pīla (Latin: "pillar, pier, breakwater").