piety - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

pi·e·ty

Audio Help [pahy-i-tee] Pronunciation Key

–noun, plural -ties.

1.	reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations: a prayer full of piety.

2.	the quality or state of being pious: saintly piety.

3.	dutiful respect or regard for parents, homeland, etc.: filial piety.

4.	a pious act, remark, belief, or the like: the pieties and sacrifices of an austere life.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME piete < MF < L pietās, equiv. to pi(us) + -etās, var. (after i) of -itās; see pious, -ity

]

—Synonyms 1. respect, veneration, awe. 2. godliness, devotion, devoutness, sanctity, holiness.

—Antonyms irreverence.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
piety

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

pi·e·ty Audio Help (pī'ĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. pi·e·ties

The state or quality of being pious, especially:
1. Religious devotion and reverence to God.
2. Devotion and reverence to parents and family: filial piety.
3. A position held conventionally or hypocritically.
4. A statement of such a position: "the liberated pieties of people who believe that social attitudes have kept pace with women's aspirations" (Erica Abeel).
A devout act, thought, or statement.
1. A position held conventionally or hypocritically.
2. A statement of such a position: "the liberated pieties of people who believe that social attitudes have kept pace with women's aspirations" (Erica Abeel).

[Middle English piete, mercy, pity, from Old French, from Latin pietās, dutiful conduct, from pius, dutiful.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
piety

1195, from O.Fr. piete (12c.), from L. pietatem (nom. pietas) "dutiful conduct, kindness, piety," from pius "kind" (see pious). Pietism (1697), is from Ger. Pietismus, originally applied in derision to the movement to revive personal piety in the Lutheran Church, begun in Frankfurt c.1670 by Philipp Jakob Spener (1635-1705).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

piety
noun
righteousness by virtue of being pious [ant: impiety]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Piety

Im*pi"e*ty\, n.; pl. Impieties. [L. impietas, fr. impius impious; cf. F. impi['e]t['e]. See Impious, Piety.]

1. The quality of being impious; want of piety; irreverence toward the Supreme Being; ungodliness; wickedness.

2. An impious act; an act of wickednes.

Those impieties for the which they are now visited. --Shak.

Syn: Ungodliness; irreligion; unrighteousness; sinfulness; profaneness; wickedness; godlessness.

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