pew

UK/ˈpjuː/ US/ˈpʰjʊu̯/ uncommon

noun

long bench with backs; used in church by the congregation

Synonyms

church bench

Origin

From Middle English pewe, from Old French puiee, puïe (“balustrade, balcony”), from Latin podia, plural of podium (“parapet, podium”), from Ancient Greek πόδιον (pódion, “little foot”), from πούς (poús, “foot”). Doublet of podia.

Phrases

churchwarden's pew
pull up a pew
take a pew

Related words

Broader terms

bench

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.