PISCH (Sclav.),
sand; e.g. Pesth, in Hungary (on a dry, sandy soil); but Buttman suggests that the name may be derived from paz, Sclav. (a baking place), as the German name for Buda, on the opposite side of the Danube, is Ofen (the oven); Peschkowitz, Peshen, Pisck, Pskov, Peckska, in Russia and Bohemia. Pies, Sclav. (the dog), may, however, be the root-word of some of these names.
PITT, PITTEN (Gadhelic),
a hole, a small hollow. This word, as a prefix, occurs very frequently in Scotland, especially in Fife, in which county the most important place is Pittenweem (the hollow of the cave, uaimh), the seat of an ancient monastery, near which is the cave from which it was named; Pitcairn (the hollow of the cairn), near Perth, in the neighbourhood of which there are two large cairns of stones; Pitgarvie (the rough hollow); Pitglas (the gray hollow); Pettinain (the hollow of the river), a parish on the Clyde; Pittencrieff (the hollow of the tree, craobh); Pitgober (of the goat); Pitnamoon (of the moss); Pittendriech (the Druid’s hollow); Pitcaithly, probably the hollow of the narrow valley, in Perthshire; Pittentaggart (the priest’s portion)—as in ancient times, the word pitte is understood to have also meant a part or portion of land; and it has probably this meaning in Pitlochrie, in Perthshire, anc. Pittan-cleireach (the portion of the clergy or church-land), as well as in Pittan-clerach, in Fife; Pitmeddin, in Aberdeenshire, named after St. Meddane. Pittenbrae (the hollow of the hill); Petty or Pettie, anc. Petyn (the hollow of the island), on Beauly Loch, Inverness; Pettycur (the hollow of the dell, coire), in Fife.
PLESSA (Fr.),
PLESSEICUM,
meaning successively a hedge, an enclosed and cultivated place surrounded by trees, an enclosed garden, a park, a mansion, or country residence; e.g. Plessis, Le Plessin, Plessier, Le Plessial, etc.—v. Cocheris’s Noms de Lieu.
PLEU, or PLOE (Cym.-Cel.),
a village, found only in Brittany; e.g. Pleu-meur (great village); Pleu-nevey (new village); Ploer-mel (the mill village); Pleu-Jian (John’s village); Pleu, Ploven, Pleven, etc.
PLÖN, POLSKI (Sclav.),
a plain; e.g. Ploen, a town in Holstein; Plönersee (the lake of the plain); Juriev-Polskoi (St. George’s town on the plain); Poland, i.e. Polskoi (the plain or level land); Volkynia (the level country).