- 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).