Piece Meaning
/piːs/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA part of a larger whole, usually in such a form that it is able to be separated from other parts.
nounA single item belonging to a class of similar items.
Sentence Examples
I want a piece of candy.
There is a piece of good news for you.
She wrote something on a small piece of paper.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He broke off a small ____ of chocolate to share with his friend.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He played a beautiful ____ on the violin that moved several members of the audience to tears.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English pece, peece, peice, from Old French piece, from Late Latin petia, pettia, possibly from Gaulish *pettyā, from Proto-Celtic *kʷezdis (“piece, portion, quota”). Compare Welsh peth, Breton pez (“thing”), Irish cuid. Compare French pièce, Portuguese peça, Spanish pieza, Italian pezza, Italian pezzo.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"No man is an Iland, intire of it ſelfe; euery man is a peece of the Continent, a part of the maine; […]"
— 1624, John Donne, “17. Meditation”, in Deuotions upon Emergent Occasions, and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes: […], London: […] A[ugustine] M[atthews] for Thomas Iones, →OCLC, pages 415–416:
""Squalled at me that she owned the business and that she wouldn't take any back talk from me and that the piece wasn't for sale. What could I do?""
— 1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 156:
"[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […]"
— 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
"Pawns, unlike pieces, move only in one direction: forward."
— 1959, Hans Kmoch, Pawn Power in Chess, section I:
"It is not permitted to move a piece to a square occupied by a piece of the same colour. […] Consequently, in the initial position the white pieces and pawns are placed on the first and second ranks; the black pieces and pawns on the eighth and seventh ranks."
— 2022, “2023 Laws of Chess”, in FIDE, pages 4, 21:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He broke off a small ____ of chocolate to share with his friend.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He played a beautiful ____ on the violin that moved several members of the audience to tears.