pease

• IPA^(key): /piːz/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Homophone: peas
• Rhymes: -iːz

From Middle English pese (“pea”), from Old English pise (“pea”), from Late Latin pisa, variant of Latin pisum (“pea”), from Ancient Greek πίσον (píson), variant of πίσος (písos).

pease (plural peasen)

1. (archaic) Alternative form of pea (“common plant; its edible seed”)
   • 1924, Arthur Machen [pseudonym; Arthur Llewellyn Jones], chapter IV, in The London Adventure or The Art of Wandering, London: Martin Secker, page 113:

     It was fiercely cold, but I was a good deal warmed when the lad who drove me, talking of the crops of the country, spoke of “the peasen.” Thank God! I said to myself, there is still some smack of old England left in the land.

• The original singular was pease (meaning “a pea”), and the plural was peasen. Because of the final [z]-sound, the singular then came to be reinterpreted as a plural form, leading to the backformation of a new singular pea.

• pease porridge
• pease pottage
• pease pudding
• split pease

From Anglo-Norman paiser, pesser et al., Old French paisier, aphetic form of apaisier (“to appease”). Probably also partly from aphetic use of appease.

pease (third-person singular simple present peases, present participle peasing, simple past and past participle peased)

1. (obsolete) To make peace between (conflicting people, states etc.); to reconcile.
2. (obsolete) To bring (a war, conflict) to an end.
3. (obsolete) To placate, appease (someone).
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Matthew xxviij]:

     And yf this come to the rulers eares, we wyll pease him, and make you safe.