pica (c.1300)

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pica (c.1300)

[ gdw]

[ FEW: 8,432a picus; Gdf: ; GdfC: ; TL: ; DEAF:  pic 1; DMF:  pic 3; TLF:  pic 1; OED: ; MED: ; DMLBS: 2273a pica 1 ]
 
Latin

The primary meaning of Latin pica is ‘magpie’ (cf. pie2). In continental French that sense was transferred to ‘woodpecker’. Here, however, the word is glossed as ‘nuthatch’. While the latter two types of bird (both tree-climbing and having a long sharp beak) may perhaps be confused, the ‘magpie’ is an entirely different kind of bird.

s.

1orn.zool.woodpecker or nuthatch (tree-climbing bird with a long beak)
( c.1300; MS: s.xivin )  Ausi sachét ke pica, ceo est a dire hnotehech, arse en un pot e poudree vaut en manger ou en boyvre encontre nectilopam e cardiake de freid encheson  ii 151.71
pic#1 
This is an AND2 Phase 4 (N-O/U-P-Q) entry. © 2013-17 The Anglo-Norman Dictionary. All rights reserved. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council of the United Kingdom.
pica