Pews

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pjuːz/

Definitions

1. Rows of benches, often made of wood, placed in places of worship for attendees to sit during services
2. Fixed seating, typically arranged in rows within churches, that accommodates members of the congregation during religious events
3. Long benches arranged in rows inside churches for people to sit during ceremonies

Etymology: The benches in a church are named after a balcony. "Pew" came into Middle English as "pewe" from Old French "puiee" or "puïe," meaning a balustrade or balcony, and those words descend from Latin "podia," the plural of "podium," a parapet or raised platform. Latin took "podium" from Greek "pódion," meaning "little foot," a diminutive of "poús," foot. So a seat in a nave and a railed gallery share a single ancestor, and the foot in its name is a literal one. The connection to the balcony sense explains the shape of the meaning. Early seating in churches was often enclosed or raised, so the furniture took on the name of the railed structure that surrounded or elevated it. "Pew" is a doublet of "podia," meaning the two words came into English by separate routes from the same Latin source, and the English form kept the older sense of an enclosure before settling on the bench.

Synonyms: benches, seats, stalls