Link Centre Dictionary

pica

UK/ˈpaɪkə/ US/ˈpaɪkə/ uncommon archaic

noun

1.

a linear unit (1/6 inch) used in printing

Synonyms
2.

magpies

Synonyms
3.

eating earth or clay or chalk; occurs in some primitive tribes or sometimes in cases of nutritional deficiency

Synonyms

Origin

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. The French pica derives from English rather than vice versa.

Phrases

  • double pica
  • double small pica
  • pica stick
  • small pica
  • two-line double pica
  • two-line pica

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.