Word of the month: Piston

When it comes to engineering the piston is one of the fundamental parts of an engine. At the time of the Industrial Revolution the piston carried the water away when it performed as a pump. Today we mostly associated the piston with the internal combustion engine but just how did it get its name?

The first known use in English dates from 1704. This is a Middle French word, where piston described ‘a large pestle’. Today the pestle, which always comes with a mortar, is found in kitchens and is used for grinding up herbs and spices. Traditionally chemists used same when grinding up ingredients for medicines. Yet working back deeper into history we find the Old Italian pistone which, a variant of pestone, came from pestare. Earlier still in Latin we find pistare and pistus all mean ‘to pound’, essentially what is being done with the pestle.