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pica (c.1300)

pica (c.1300)

 
  FEW:  picus 8,432a Gdf: GdfC: TL: DEAF:  pic 1  DMF:  pic 3  TLF:  pic 1  OED: MED: DMLBS:  pica 1 2273a
ls(loanword: Latin )
le

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.

orn.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  A-N Med ii 151.71

[gdw]

See also:

pic1  picage  picois  picot  pike1  pikere  pyker 
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