Meaning
A small secondary dwelling kept for occasional use, typically a city apartment occupied for work weeks or short stays rather than as a main home. The phrase carries an upscale real-estate register, implying the owner can afford two homes; in French it plainly names such a lodging without the prestige flavor it has in English. Almost always wealth- and property-flavored; applying it to a modest bedsit would sound tongue-in-cheek. Regional use: General English (borrowed from French).
Origin
French, literally 'foot on the ground' - pied 'foot', a 'at, to', terre 'ground, earth' - the image of a place where one sets one's feet down briefly. Dictionary.com (Random House) dates the English borrowing to 1820-30. The earliest French use of the expression is not documented in the sources consulted, and dictionary.com's own commentary notes that reference works typically translate the phrase without explaining how it acquired its sense. Wikipedia defines the current sense in both languages: a dwelling, typically a city apartment or condominium, kept as a secondary residence rather than a primary home or holiday house.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- pieds-à-terre
Usage Examples
- They keep a pied-à-terre in Lisbon for the weeks when parliament is sitting.
- Her pied-à-terre near the studio is barely bigger than a hotel room, but it saves the commute.
- Buying a pied-à-terre in the city struck his neighbors in the village as an extravagance.