Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Place in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels place as verb. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913verb
Place

[Cf. F. placer. See Place, n.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordplace
Part of speechverb
Historical etymology[Cf. F. placer. See Place, n.]
Selected historical definitionTo assign a place to; to put in a particular spot or place, or in a certain relative position; to direct to a particular place; to fix; to settle; to locate; as, to place a book on a shelf; to place balls in tennis.
Signed record IDwebster1913-place-verb-081f4088b48c
Source locatorCIDE.P, paragraph 8733; Gutenberg eBook 666
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 666Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "place" is labeled verb. Its etymology is recorded as: "[Cf. F. placer. See Place, n.]" The selected historical definition says: "To assign a place to; to put in a particular spot or place, or in a certain relative position; to direct to a particular place; to fix; to settle; to locate; as, to place a book on a shelf; to place balls in tennis."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

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[F. part, L. pars, gen. partis; cf. parere to bring forth, produce. Cf. Parent, Depart, Parcel, Partner, Party, Portion.]

Webster 1913 exact recordverb

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[OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Power

[OE. pouer, poer, OF. poeir, pooir, F. pouvoir, n. & v., fr. LL. potere, for L. posse, potesse, to be able, to have power. See Possible, Potent, and cf. Posse comitatus.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Public

[L. publicus, poblicus, fr. populus people: cf. F. public. See People.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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