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Origin and history of pivot

pivot(n.)

"pin on which a wheel or other object turns," 1610s, from French pivot, from Old French pivot "hinge pin, pivot" (12c.), also "penis," a word of uncertain origin. Pevetsheres, evidently some kind of shears, is mentioned in a will registered in York in 1398. Figurative sense of "turning point, that on which some matter hinges or depends" is recorded from 1813.

pivot(v.)

by 1841, "to turn or swing on or as on a pivot," from French pivoter and from pivot (n.). Mechanical meaning "furnish with a pivot" is by 1851. Related: Pivoted; pivoting.

also from 1841

Entries linking to pivot

pivotal(adj.)

"of the nature of a pivot," 1844, in the figurative sense, from pivot (n.) in the sense of "that upon which something turns or depends" + -al (1).

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    Trends of pivot

    adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

    More to explore

    swivel
    "coupling device that allows independent rotation of the fastened object or part," c. 1300, from frequentative form of stem of Old English verb swifan "to move in a course, revolve, sweep" (a class I strong verb), from Proto-Germanic *swif-, swip- (source also of Old Frisian swiv
    pin
    late Old English pinn "peg or bolt of wood or metal used to hold things in place or fasten them together," from Proto-Germanic *penn- "jutting point or peak" (source also of Old Saxon pin "peg," Old Norse pinni "peg, tack," Middle Dutch pin "pin, peg," Old High German pfinn, Germ
    pulley
    poliva, puliva, which according to Barnhart and Klein is probably from Medieval Greek *polidia, plural of *polidion "little pivot...," diminutive of Greek polos "pivot, axis" (see pole (n.2))....
    kern
    says it is from French carne "projecting angle, quill of a pen" (12c.), Old North French form of Old French charne "hinge, pivot...
    aleatory
    chance, hazard, risk; a die, the dice;" perhaps literally "a joint-bone" (marked knuckle-bones used as early dice), "a pivot-bone...
    pole
    Latin polus "end of an axis;" also "the sky, the heavens" (a sense sometimes used in English from 16c.), from Greek polos "pivot...
    axis
    1540s, "imaginary motionless straight line around which a body (such as the Earth) rotates," from Latin axis "axle, pivot...
    pirouette
    in dancing, "a rapid whirling on one leg or on the points of the toes," 1706, from French pirouette "pirouette in dancing," originally "spinning top" (15c.), from Gallo-Roman root *pir- "peg, plug" (source of Italian piruolo "peg top") + diminutive suffix -ette. Hence, probably,
    runt
    c. 1500, "old or decayed tree stump" (Douglas), a provincial word of unknown origin. The meaning was extended to "small ox or cow," especially of the breeds characteristic of Wales and the Scottish Highlands (1540s, if indeed this is the same word), and by 1610s generally to unde
    turn
    late Old English turnian "to rotate, revolve," in part also from Old French torner "to turn away or around; draw aside, cause to turn; change, transform; turn on a lathe" (Modern French tourner), both from Latin tornare "to polish, round off, fashion, turn on a lathe," from tornu

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    Dictionary entries near pivot
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