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PITCH

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 660 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PITCH . (I) (0. Eng. pic, an See also:

adaptation of See also:Lat. pix, picis, Gr. vivo—a, 7rirra, allied with Gr. 7rLTVr, See also:pine-See also:tree, Lat. pines), the name of various substances of dark See also:colour and of extremely viscid and tenacious consistency when subjected to See also:heat. Strictly the See also:term is applied to the resinous substance obtained as a solid residuum by the See also:distillation of See also:wood-See also:tar (see TAR), or the non-resinous substance similarly produced from See also:Coal-tar (q.v.). The name is also applied to the natural See also:mineral sub-stances, i.e. See also:asphalt or See also:bitumen (qq.v.). (2) A noun of various meanings which are somewhat difficult to connect with the verb from which they apparently must be derived. " To pitch " means primarily to thrust in or See also:fix a stake or other pointed See also:object into the ground, hence to See also:place in a fixed position, set in See also:order, See also:cast or throw, hence to incline or slope. The See also:etymology is obscure, but it appears in See also:Northern dialects as " pick," of which it may be a variant; there is some difficulty in connecting this See also:form with " pick," variant of " See also:pike " (q.v.).

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