Etymograph

English

magpie

Magpie comes from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- ‘woodpecker, magpie’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)peyk-‘woodpecker, magpie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peikāreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpīca
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pie
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. English1500–presentsame form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1888magpie

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)peyk-‘woodpecker, magpie’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peikāreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpīca
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pie
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  6. English1500–presentsame form
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1888magpie

Earliest quotation: 1888, Rudyard Kipling, The Phantom Rickshaw: “Kitty and I were engaged. The next day I…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- ‘woodpecker, magpie’

speight

through Latin pīca

pique, pica

through Old French pie

pie

through English pie

pied

Today it means

noun One of several kinds of bird in the family Corvidae, especially Pica pica.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- / magpie

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