Revised as of
15 Dec 2022
No, peace vs. piece is not a frequent word confusion, and yet I feel compelled to include this heterograph (a subset of homophone). I suspect I’m obsessing about pie, as in I want a piece of Thursday’s pumpkin pie. And some of that turkey, and a bit of the cranberry sauce. Nor will I forget to help myself to some of the yams. Yum!
Of course, it being a holiday of family getting together, it’s likely the peace will get cut up with arguments — politics being a favorite.
For myself, I see peace as a very flowing, calm, sort of word. I think it’s all those as as the word just floats along calmly and serenely, just burbling along the stream of words.
Piece, however, has a choppy feel to it. It’s all those es and that i breaking the word, tearing it. It doesn’t feel like a word that flows, but has a more independent stance.
It’s too bad that peace is so frequently in pieces
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Peace | Piece |
|---|---|
Peace Sign was originally uploaded by Schuminweb at English Wikipedia (transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons) and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Broken Glass is FASTILY‘s own work is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — All those pieces of broken glass! |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Exclamation; Noun; Verb, intransitive Plural for the noun: peaces Third person present verb: peaces |
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: pieces Third person present verb: pieces |
| Exclamation: Used as a greeting Used as an order to remain silent Noun: Mental calm
Freedom from or cessation of war or violence Ceremonial handshake or kiss exchanged during a service in some churches Dead Verb, intransitive: |
Noun: Portion of an object or of material, produced by cutting, tearing, or breaking the whole One of an item that were put together to make something and into which it naturally divides An item forming part of a set A written, musical, or artistic creation or composition A figure or token to make moves on a game board [Slang] Firearm [Slang, offensive] Woman Verb, intransitive:
Verb, transitive: Slowly make sense of something from separate facts and bits of evidence [Archaic] Extend [Archaic] Patch |
| Examples: | |
| Exclamation: Peace, brother. Peace! I can’t hear myself think. Peace. Give me peace! Can you please just hold your peace until I’m done talking? Noun: Isn’t there a song with the phrase peace on earth in it? I could use some peace of mind today. We keep hoping for peace in the Middle East. Now, exchange the kiss of peace. The old lady is at peace now. Verb, intransitive: I woke up at seven, thanked my host, and peaced out. “In another northern species, ptarmigan, such a see-saw pattern between warring and peacing has indeed been observed by researchers” (Grady). |
Noun: Hey, cut me a piece of cheese, willya? Hey! Who took my bike to pieces? Ooh, that’s a nice piece of luggage. What a lovely piece of music! C’mon, Joe, gimme a piece. Verb, intransitive: Are you piecing? Verb, transitive: Sherlock Holmes solved cases by piecing together the hints and clues. If it be broken, it must be pieced. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: peaceable, peaceful, peaceless, peacelike Adverb: peaceably, peacefully Noun: nonpeace, peace-offering, peacefulness, peacelessness, peacemaker, peacetime, self-peace |
Adjective: multipiece, unpieced |
| History of the Word: | |
| From Middle English from the Old French pais, which is from the Latin pax, pac- meaning peace. | Middle English, from the Old French piece is of obscure ultimate origin (compare this with the medieval Latin pecia, petium). |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Peace versus Piece
Apple Dictionary.com
The Free Dictionary: peace
Grady, Wayne. Bringing Back the Dodo: Lessons in natural and unnatural history.Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2006. <https://amzn.to/3j96RcV>.
Pinterest Photo Credits
It’s been too long, and I can’t find the original sources for any of these images. If anyone recognizes them, please let me know, so I can credit them.
