Pithy
/ˈpɪθi/noun
Concise and forcefully expressive.
Did you know?Pithy comes from the same Old English root as pith, the soft inner substance of a plant, which is why the word still means something stripped down to its essential core.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bheid-
“to split, cleave”
Old English
OE
piþa
“pith, inner substance”
Middle English
ME
pithi
“having pith; full of substance”
16th Century
English
pithy
“full of pith; substantial, forceful”
Modern English
English
pithy
“concise and forcefully expressive”