# peior
## Latin
### Alternative forms

* pejor

### Etymology

Probably from Proto-Indo-European *ped-yōs (“to the ground, downward”), from *ped- (“to walk, fall, stumble”); compare pessimus (“worst”). Michiel de Vaan notes that a similar phonetic change *[dj]/[jd] > *[j] can be observed in the etymology of caelum (“chisel”) and caia (“cudgel”) from Proto-Italic *kaid(s)lo- and *kaidjā- respectively. Cognate to pēs, pessum.

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈpei̯.i̯or/, [ˈpɛi̯ːɔr]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈpe.jor/, [ˈpɛːjor]
* The first syllable contains a short vowel followed by a long (double) consonantal -i-. For the purpose of Latin scansion, this forms a long syllable. Although many dictionaries mark vowels in this context with a macron, the vowel itself is not long.

### Adjective

peior (comparative, neuter peius); third declension
* comparative degree of malus; worse
    Synonym: deterior, nequior

#### Declension

Third-declension comparative adjective.

#### Antonyms

* melior

#### Derived terms

* peiōrō
* peius

#### Descendants

* Italo-Romance:
** Italian: peggiore
** Sicilian: pijuri
* North Italian:
** Romansch: pêr
* Gallo-Romance:
** Catalan: pitjor
** French: pire
** Gascon: péger
** Occitan: pièger, pieg
*** Vivaro-Alpine: pejor
* Ibero-Romance:
** Galician: peor
** Portuguese: pior
** Spanish: peor
* Borrowings:
** →⇒ English: pejorative

#### See also

* pessimus (superlative)

#### References

* ↑ Nishimura, Kanehiro (2011) “Notes on Glide Treatment in Latin Orthography and Phonology: -iciō, servus, aiō”, in Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics, volume 124, page 193:It is well known that Latin orthography tends to avoid gemination of ⟨i⟩ for two successive i̯-glides [...] The most classic case may be maior 'larger'; its phonological representation is /mai̯i̯or/ [...] the provision of a macron (i.e., māior, as if the vowel were long) in order to display the syllable weight — the way common in a number of grammar books and dictionaries — is utterly misleading in that it disguises the phonological reality. The same is true of another comparative adjective peior 'worse' (< *ped-i̯os-, via *-di̯- > -i̯i̯-)

#### Further reading

* “peior”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “peiior”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 455
* De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “pessum”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 463
* De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “caedō, -ere”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 79–80

## Old French
### Alternative forms

* paiour
* pegor
* peiour
* peiur
* pejur
* peor
* peour
* peur
* peure
* piour
* poiour
* pojor

### Etymology

From Latin peiōrem, accusative singular of peior. The nominative form, pire (whence modern French pire) derives from the Latin nominative.

### Adjective

peior (oblique singular, nominative singular pire)
* worse; comparative degree of mal
** c. 1180, Chrétien de Troyes, Lancelot ou le Chevalier de la charrette:Qui peior que Sarrazin sont.Who are worse than Saracens.
* worst; superlative degree of mal

#### Antonyms

* meillor (“best”)

#### Descendants

* French: pire (from nominative form)

### References

* Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX$^e$ au XV$^e$ siècle (1881) (peior, includes information on declension)
* peior on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

## Portuguese
### Adjective

peior m or f (plural peiores)
* Obsolete spelling of pior.

### Adverb

peior
* Obsolete spelling of pior.