pica
Pronunciation: /ˈpaɪkə/
The English word “pica” has 6 meanings listed here.
noun
- A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.
- A magpie.
- A size of type between small pica and English, now standardized as 12-point.
- A font of this size.
- A unit of length equivalent to 12 points, officially ³⁵⁄₈₃ cm (0.166 in) after 1886 but now (computing) ¹⁄₆ in.
- A pie or directory: the book directing Roman Catholic observance of saints' days and other feasts under various calendars.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin pīca (“jay; magpie”). Doublet of pie (“magpie”). * (pathology): From the idea that magpies will eat almost anything.
Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “pica” there
More English words
About this dictionary
The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.
Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.