p

as ingarden-variety
as inhabitualness

Synonyms for p

adj ordinary

Word Origin & History

a rare letter in the initial position in Germanic, in part because by Grimm's Law PIE p- became Germanic f-; even with the early Latin borrowings in Old English, -p- takes up a little over 4 pages in J.R. Clark Hall's "Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary," compared to 31 pages for B and more than 36 for F. But it now is the third-most-common initial letter in the English vocabulary, and with C and S comprises nearly a third of the dictionary, a testimony to the flood of words that have entered the language since 1066 from Latin, Greek, and French.

To mind one's Ps and Qs (1779), possibly is from confusion of these letters among children learning to write. Another theory traces it to old-time tavern-keepers tracking their patrons' bar tabs in pints and quarts. But cf. also to be P and Q (1610s), "to be excellent," a slang phrase said to derive from prime quality.

Example Sentences for p

Stop for us at the Laurels, about eleven, or p'r'aps I'll stroll over and get you.

We'll land that stake; an' p'raps the sharp division'll take a tumble.

I tell you p'intedly you cyarnt nevah b'lieve what you heahs.

He can't marry Miss P——, nor yet her fortune, nor ever shall!

All this you was on the p'int of losin' through bein' slow on your feet.

"Love doesn't begin with a P," he remarked to the opposite wall.

He told me that he made it a p'int to get what he wanted and he was goin' to get it now.

It's my pump, but I'll stretch a p'int and not charge for it this time.'

Them that had errands made it a p'int to cruise past that way.

P'r'aps you thought he was the one to 'do the worryin', hey?

p

Synonyms for p

More words related to p

garden-variety

habitualness