pica
/ˈpaɪkə/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.50 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances, such as chalk, clay, dirt, ice, or sand.
Uncountable
noun
A unit of length equivalent to 12 points, officially ³⁵⁄₈₃ cm (0.166 in) after 1886 but now (computing) ¹⁄₆ in.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "The three most common nonfood picas were eating of strings and rags; feces, vomit, and urine; and paper, cigarettes, and soil."
- "I had been at Baldwin's before dinner in consequence of a letter from him which showed me that, by using a pica instead of an English letter in printing my book, I might comprise it within such a number of sheets as a guinea-volume should contain […]."
- "The difference to you of treacle on a marble background is scarcely greater than that of printers' ink on newspaper to me. But anything smaller than pica I do not read with comfort, and below long primer I cannot read at all."
- "Most travellers in the Himalaya are familiar with the pretty little Rodents, known as picas, tailless hares, or mouse-hares, which may be seen in the higher regions[…]"
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *(s)peyk-, pica, pīca
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈpaɪkə/
- British English: /ˈpaɪkə/