c. 1200, "space, dimensional extent, room, area," from Old French place "place, spot" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin placea "place, spot," from Latin platea "courtyard, open space; broad way, avenue," from Greek plateia (hodos) "broad (way)," fem. of platys "broad," from PIE root *plat- "to spread."
Replaced Old English stow and stede. From mid-13c. as "particular part of space, extent, definite location, spot, site;" from early 14c. as "position or place occupied by custom, etc.; precedence, priority in rank or dignity; social status, position on some social scale;" from late 14c. as "inhabited place, town, country," also "place on the surface of something, portion of something, part." Meaning "a situation, appointment, or employment" is by 1550s. Meaning "group of houses in a town" is from 1580s.
Also from the same Latin source are Italian piazza, Catalan plassa, Spanish plaza, Middle Dutch plaetse, Dutch plaats, German Platz, Danish plads, Norwegian plass. The word appears via the Bible in Old English (Old Northumbrian plaece, plaetse "an open place in a city"), but the modern word is a reborrowing.
Sense of "a mansion with its adjoining grounds" is from mid-14c.; that of "building or part of a building set apart for some purpose is by late 15c. (in place of worship). Meaning "a broad way, square, or open space in a city or town," often having some particular use or character (Park Place, Waverly Place,Rillington Place) is by 1690s, from a sense in French. Its wide application in English covers meanings that in French require three words: place, lieu, and endroit. Cognate Italian piazza and Spanish plaza retain more of the etymological sense.
To take place "happen, come to pass, be accomplished" (mid-15c., earlier have place, late 14c.), translates French avoir lieu. To know (one's) place "know how to behave in a manner befitting one's rank, situation, etc." is from c. 1600, from the "social status" sense; hence the figurative expression put (someone) in his or her place (1855). In in the first place, etc., it has the sense of "point or degree in order of proceeding" (1630s). Out of place "not properly adjusted or placed in relation to other things" is by 1520s. All over the place "in disorder" is attested from 1923.
mid-15c., placen, "to determine the position of;" also "to put (something) in a particular place or position," from place (n.). The meaning "put or set (a number of things) in position or order, arrange" is from 1540s. Related: Placed; placing.
Sense of "to find a home, situation, marriage, etc. for" is from 1590s. The horse racing sense of "to achieve a certain position" (usually in the top three finishers; in U.S., specifically second place) is attested by 1924, from earlier meaning "to state the position of" (among the first three finishers), 1826.
1560s, "directed downward," from down (adv.). Sense of "depressed mentally" is attested from c. 1600. Slang sense of "aware, wide awake" is attested from 1812. Computer crash sense is from 1965. Down-and-out "completely without resources" is from 1889, American English, from situation of a beaten prizefighter.
"in a descending direction, from a higher to a lower place, degree, or condition," late Old English shortened form of Old English ofdune "downwards," originally of dune "off from (the) hill," from dune "from the hill," dative of dun "hill" (see down (n.2)). The "hill" word is general in Germanic, but this sense development is peculiar to English. As a preposition, "in a descending direction upon or along," from late 14c.
To be down on "express disapproval of" is by 1851. Down home is from 1828 as "in one's home region," as an adjective phrase meaning "unpretentious" by 1931, American English. Down the hatch as a toast is from 1931. Down to the wire is 1901, from horse-racing.
Down Under "Australia and New Zealand" attested from 1886; Down East "Maine" is from 1825; Down South "in the Southern states of the U.S." is attested by 1834. Down the road "in the future" is by 1964, U.S. colloquial. Down-to-earth "everyday, ordinary, realistic" is by 1932.
1710, "a downward movement," from down (adv.). Football sense of "an attempt to advance the ball" is by 1882.
"first feathers of a baby bird; soft covering of fowls under the feathers, the under-plumage of birds," used for stuffing pillows and feather-beds, mid-14c., from Old Norse dunn, which is of uncertain origin. Extended in Modern English to the soft hair of the human face and fine soft pubescence upon plants and some fruit.
"a hill of moderate elevation and more or less rounded outline," Old English dun "height, hill, moor," from Proto-Germanic *dunaz- (source also of Middle Dutch dunen "sandy hill," Dutch duin), "probably a pre-insular loan-word from Celtic" [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names], in other words, borrowed at a very early period, before the Anglo-Saxon migration, perhaps from PIE root *dheue- "to close, finish, come full circle."
The more general meaning "elevated rolling grassland; high, rolling region not covered by forest" is from c. 1400. Specifically of certain natural pastureland districts of south and southeast England (the Downs) by mid-15c.
The non-English Germanic words tend to mean "dune, sand bank" (see dune), while the Celtic cognates tend to mean "hill, citadel" (compare Old Irish dun "hill, hill fort;" Welsh din "fortress, hill fort;" and second element in place names London, Verdun, etc.). German Düne, French dune, Italian, Spanish duna are said to be loan-words from Dutch.
1560s, "cause to go down," from down (adv.). Meaning "swallow hastily" is by 1860; football sense of "bring down (an opposing player) by tackling" is attested by 1887. Figurative sense of "defeat, get the better of" is by 1898. Related: Downed; downing.
