etymonline.org wrote:
c. 1200, "space, dimensional extent, room, area," from Old French
place
"place, spot" (12c.) and directly from Medieval Latin
placea
"place, spot," from Latin
platea
"courtyard, open space; broad way, avenue," from Greek
plateia (hodos)
"broad (way)," fem. of
platys
"broad," from PIE root
*plat-
"to spread."
Replaced Old English
stow
and
stede
. From mid-13c. as "particular part of space, extent, definite location, spot, site;" from early 14c. as "position or place occupied by custom, etc.; precedence, priority in rank or dignity; social status, position on some social scale;" from late 14c. as "inhabited place, town, country," also "place on the surface of something, portion of something, part." Meaning "a situation, appointment, or employment" is by 1550s. Meaning "group of houses in a town" is from 1580s.
Also from the same Latin source are Italian
piazza
, Catalan
plassa
, Spanish
plaza
, Middle Dutch
plaetse
, Dutch
plaats
, German
Platz
, Danish
plads
, Norwegian
plass
. The word appears via the Bible in Old English (Old Northumbrian
plaece, plaetse
"an open place in a city"), but the modern word is a reborrowing.
Sense of "a mansion with its adjoining grounds" is from mid-14c.; that of "building or part of a building set apart for some purpose is by late 15c. (in
place of worship
). Meaning "a broad way, square, or open space in a city or town," often having some particular use or character (
Park Place, Waverly Place,Rillington Place
) is by 1690s, from a sense in French. Its wide application in English covers meanings that in French require three words:
place, lieu
, and
endroit
. Cognate Italian
piazza
and Spanish
plaza
retain more of the etymological sense.
To
"happen, come to pass, be accomplished" (mid-15c., earlier
have place
, late 14c.), translates French
avoir lieu
. To
"know how to behave in a manner befitting one's rank, situation, etc." is from c. 1600, from the "social status" sense; hence the figurative expression
put (someone) in his or her place
(1855). In i
, etc., it has the sense of "point or degree in order of proceeding" (1630s).
"not properly adjusted or placed in relation to other things" is by 1520s.
"in disorder" is attested from 1923.