Etymograph

English

pica

Pica comes from Latin pīca ‘jay’, from Proto-Italic *peikā ‘magpie’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- ‘woodpecker’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)peyk-‘woodpecker’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peikā‘magpie’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpīca‘jay’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1986pica

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)peyk-‘woodpecker’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*peikā‘magpie’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpīca‘jay’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1986pica

Earliest quotation: 1986, George S Baroff, Mental retardation: nature: “The three most common nonfood picas were eating of…”

Linked words

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

speight

through Proto-Italic *peikā ‘magpie’

pied

through Latin pīca ‘jay’

pie, magpie, pique, 1 more

Another origin of pica

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500pica‘pica: a service book’
  2. Englishtodaysame form

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.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. The French pica derives from English rather than vice versa.

Today it means

noun A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.

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

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

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