pica
English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈpaɪkə/[1]
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) enPR: pīkə, IPA(key): /ˈpaɪkə/[1]
- Rhymes: -aɪkə
Etymology 1[edit]
Borrowed from Latin pīca (“jay; magpie”) (from the idea that magpies will eat almost anything), from Proto-Italic *peikā, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“magpie; woodpecker”). Doublet of pie.
Noun[edit]
pica (usually uncountable, plural picas)
- (pathology) A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.
- Synonyms: allotriophagy, chthonophagia, cittosis, geophagy, (obsolete, rare) pique
- 1986, George S Baroff, Mental retardation: nature, cause, and management:
- The three most common nonfood picas were eating of strings and rags; feces, vomit, and urine; and paper, cigarettes, and soil.
Translations[edit]
Further reading[edit]
pica (disorder) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 2[edit]
From Medieval Latin pica (“pica: a service book”), possibly from Latin pīca (“magpie”) after the piebald appearance of the typeset page (cf. pie (“disordered type”)). The relation to the printer's measure is unclear, as no edition of the text in pica type is known. The French pica derives from English rather than vice versa.[1]
Noun[edit]
pica (countable and uncountable, plural picas)
- (typography, printing, uncountable) A size of type between small pica and English, now standardized as 12-point.
- 1790, James Boswell, edited by Danziger & Brady, Boswell: The Great Biographer, Yale, published 1989, page 30:
- I had been at Baldwin's before dinner in consequence of a letter from him which showed me that, by using a pica instead of an English letter in printing my book, I might comprise it within such a number of sheets as a guinea-volume should contain […] .
- (typography, uncountable, usually with qualifier) A font of this size.
- (typography, countable) A unit of length equivalent to 12 points, officially 35⁄83 cm (0.166 in) after 1886 but now (computing) 1⁄6 in.
- (uncommon, ecclesiastical) A pie or directory: the book directing Roman Catholic observance of saints' days and other feasts under various calendars.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Further reading[edit]
pica (typography) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 3[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica (plural picas)
- Archaic form of pika (“small lagomorph”).
- 1895, Richard Lydekker, The Royal Natural History, volume 3, page 190:
- Most travellers in the Himalaya are familiar with the pretty little Rodents, known as picas, tailless hares, or mouse-hares, which may be seen in the higher regions […]
Etymology 4[edit]
From Latin.
Noun[edit]
pica (plural picas)
- A magpie.
References[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Catalan[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
From Latin pīla (“mortar”), with an unexplained change from /l/ to /k/. Compare Spanish pila (“sink, font”).
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural piques)
- bowl
- pica beneitera ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- sink
- Synonym: lavabo
- de mica en mica s'omple la pica (proverb) ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- 2006, Sergi Pàmies, “Com dues gotes d'aigua”, in Si menges una llimona sense fer ganyotes:
- Quan neix, la gota encara no sap que d'aquí a dos segons s'escalfarà contra la pica de la cuina.
- (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Etymology 2[edit]
Borrowed from Spanish pica (“pike”).
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural piques)
- (weaponry) pike
- (card games) spade
Etymology 3[edit]
Borrowed from Latin pīca (“magpie”).
Noun[edit]
pica f (uncountable)
Etymology 4[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural piques)
Etymology 5[edit]
Borrowed from French pika, from an Evenki word.
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural piques)
- pika (small, furry mammal)
Further reading[edit]
- “pica” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “pica” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Galician[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica m (plural picas)
- pipit
- (card games) spade (a playing card of the suit spades, picas)
Verb[edit]
pica
- inflection of picar:
Italian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural piche)
Anagrams[edit]
Latin[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Italic *peikā, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“woodpecker; magpie”), whence also Latin pīcus (“woodpecker”).
Romance forms in -e- might reflect a different etymon, such as the Umbrian peico (acc.sg.), where the product of /ei/'s monophthongisation coincided with the latin /ē/. Cognate to Sanskrit पिक (piká, “cuckoo”), German Specht (“woodpecker”), Swedish spett (“crowbar, skewer; kind of woodpecker”).
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈpiː.ka/, [ˈpiːkä]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈpi.ka/, [ˈpiːkä]
Noun[edit]
pīca f (genitive pīcae); first declension
Declension[edit]
First-declension noun.
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | pīca | pīcae |
Genitive | pīcae | pīcārum |
Dative | pīcae | pīcīs |
Accusative | pīcam | pīcās |
Ablative | pīcā | pīcīs |
Vocative | pīca | pīcae |
Related terms[edit]
Descendants[edit]
- ⇒ Vulgar Latin: *pēca (dialectal or from Sabellic)
- Catalan: piga (“freckle”)
- Italian: pica
- ⇒ Norman: piêté
- Occitan: piga
- ⇒ Occitan: pigal, pigalha (“freckle”), pigasat (“pied, spotted, variegated”)
- Old French: pie
- Sardinian: piga (Logudorian)
- Sicilian: pica
- ⇒ Spanish: picaza (crossed with Germanic *agattjā (“magpie”))
- → Basque: mika
- → Breton: pig
- → Catalan: pica
- → English: pica
- → Irish: píoca
- → Esperanto: pigo
- → Ido: pigo
- →? Scottish Gaelic: pioghaid
References[edit]
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “pīca”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 8: Patavia–Pix, page 420
Further reading[edit]
- “pica”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “pica”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- pica in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
Latvian[edit]

Etymology[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica f (4th declension)
Declension[edit]
Old Polish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Inherited from Proto-Slavic *piťa.
Noun[edit]
pica f
Derived terms[edit]
- picować impf
Descendants[edit]
- Polish: pica (obsolete)
Further reading[edit]
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “pica”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Etymology 2[edit]
Inherited from Proto-Slavic.
Noun[edit]
pica f
Descendants[edit]
- Polish: pica
Further reading[edit]
- B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “pica”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
Polish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Inherited from Old Polish pica (“fodder, food, forage”), from Proto-Slavic *piťa.
Noun[edit]
pica f
Declension[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Inherited from Old Polish pica (“vulva”), from Proto-Slavic.
Noun[edit]
pica f (diminutive piczka)
Declension[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- pica in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
- pica in Polish dictionaries at PWN
M. Arcta Słownik Staropolski/Pica on the Polish Wikisource.Wikisource pl
Portuguese[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
- Rhymes: -ikɐ
- Hyphenation: pi‧ca
Etymology 1[edit]
Back-formation from picar (“to mince, to shred”)
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
- (Portugal) act of mincing
- (historical, rare) pike (long spear)
- Synonym: pique
- (Brazil, colloquial, vulgar) dick; prick; penis
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:pénis
- (Portugal, childish) jab (medical injection)
- Synonym: vacina
- (Portugal, colloquial) energy; power
- Já estou com a pica toda. ― I'm full of energy.
- (Portugal, colloquial) enthusiasm, will
- Falta-me pica para continuar o projeto ― I'm lacking enthusiasm to continue with the project.
- (Portugal, slang) joint (marijuana cigarette)
Derived terms[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica m (plural picas)
- (Portugal, informal) ticket inspector
- Synonym: revisor
Adjective[edit]
pica m or f (plural picas)
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Learned borrowing from Latin pīca
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
Etymology 3[edit]
From English pica, ultimately from Latin pīca.
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
- (typography, printing, rare) pica
- Synonym: paica
Etymology 4[edit]
From pico (“tip”).
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
- (Portugal) dace; chub (fish of the genus Leuciscus)
- (Portugal) atherine (fish of the genus Atherina)
- Synonym: peixe-rei
Etymology 5[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
- pika (mammal of the family Ochotonidae)
Etymology 6[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
Etymology 7[edit]
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.
Verb[edit]
pica
- inflection of picar:
Further reading[edit]
- “pica” in iDicionário Aulete.
- “pica” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
- “pica” in Dicionário Online de Português.
- “pica” in Dicionário inFormal.
- “pica” in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa. Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2023.
- “pica” in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa.
- “pica” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From pic. Compare also Aromanian chicu, chicare.
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (file)
Verb[edit]
a pica (third-person singular present pică, past participle picat) 1st conj.
- (of a liquid) to drip
- Synonym: picura
- (literally and figuratively) to fall
- Synonym: cădea
- to fail
- to come unexpectedly
Conjugation[edit]
infinitive | a pica | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
gerund | picând | ||||||
past participle | picat | ||||||
number | singular | plural | |||||
person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | |
indicative | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele | |
present | pic | pici | pică | picăm | picați | pică | |
imperfect | picam | picai | pica | picam | picați | picau | |
simple perfect | picai | picași | pică | picarăm | picarăți | picară | |
pluperfect | picasem | picaseși | picase | picaserăm | picaserăți | picaseră | |
subjunctive | eu | tu | el/ea | noi | voi | ei/ele | |
present | să pic | să pici | să pice | să picăm | să picați | să pice | |
imperative | — | tu | — | — | voi | — | |
affirmative | pică | picați | |||||
negative | nu pica | nu picați |
Derived terms[edit]
Serbo-Croatian[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Hypocoristic form derived from pízda (“cunt”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
píca f (Cyrillic spelling пи́ца)
Declension[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
pȉca f (Cyrillic spelling пи̏ца)
Declension[edit]
Slovene[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
pīca f
Inflection[edit]
Feminine, a-stem | |||
---|---|---|---|
nom. sing. | píca | ||
gen. sing. | píce | ||
singular | dual | plural | |
nominative (imenovȃlnik) |
píca | píci | píce |
genitive (rodȋlnik) |
píce | píc | píc |
dative (dajȃlnik) |
píci | pícama | pícam |
accusative (tožȋlnik) |
píco | píci | píce |
locative (mẹ̑stnik) |
píci | pícah | pícah |
instrumental (orọ̑dnik) |
píco | pícama | pícami |
Further reading[edit]
- “pica”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
Spanish[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
Noun[edit]
pica f (plural picas)
Derived terms[edit]
See also[edit]
Suits in Spanish · palos (layout · text) | |||
---|---|---|---|
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corazones | diamantes | picas | tréboles |
Etymology 2[edit]
Verb[edit]
pica
- inflection of picar:
Further reading[edit]
- “pica”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/aɪkə
- Rhymes:English/aɪkə/2 syllables
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)peyk-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Italic
- English doublets
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Pathology
- English terms with quotations
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- en:Typography
- en:Printing
- en:Computing
- English terms with uncommon senses
- English ecclesiastical terms
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- en:Units of measure
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- Catalan countable nouns
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- Catalan terms with usage examples
- Catalan terms with quotations
- Catalan terms borrowed from Spanish
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- ca:Weapons
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- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan uncountable nouns
- ca:Pathology
- Catalan deverbals
- Catalan terms borrowed from French
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- ca:Containers
- ca:Landforms
- ca:Mammals
- Galician lemmas
- Galician nouns
- Galician countable nouns
- Galician nouns with irregular gender
- Galician masculine nouns
- gl:Card games
- Galician non-lemma forms
- Galician verb forms
- gl:Birds
- Italian 2-syllable words
- Italian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Italian/ika
- Rhymes:Italian/ika/2 syllables
- Italian lemmas
- Italian nouns
- Italian countable nouns
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- Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic
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- Latin feminine nouns
- la:Corvids
- Latvian terms borrowed from Italian
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- Latvian lemmas
- Latvian nouns
- Latvian feminine nouns
- Latvian fourth declension nouns
- lv:Foods
- Old Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old Polish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Old Polish terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peyt-
- Old Polish terms inherited from Proto-Slavic
- Old Polish terms derived from Proto-Slavic
- Old Polish lemmas
- Old Polish nouns
- Old Polish feminine nouns
- zlw-opl:Animal foods
- zlw-opl:Body parts
- Polish 2-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Polish/it͡sa
- Rhymes:Polish/it͡sa/2 syllables
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Polish terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *peyt-
- Polish terms inherited from Old Polish
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- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
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- pl:Animal foods
- pl:Genitalia
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Portuguese/ikɐ
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- Portuguese back-formations
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- pt:Pathology
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- pt:Typography
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- pt:Lagomorphs
- Portuguese 4chan slang
- Romanian terms with audio links
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- Rhymes:Serbo-Croatian/it͡sa
- Rhymes:Serbo-Croatian/it͡sa/2 syllables
- Serbo-Croatian lemmas
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- sh:Foods
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- sl:Foods
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- Rhymes:Spanish/ika
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- es:Card games
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