Pica

Definitions: Pica

Pica

Noun

1. A linear unit (1/6 inch) used in printing.

2. Magpies.

3. Eating earth or clay or chalk; occurs in some primitive tribes or sometimes in cases of nutritional deficiency.

Date "pica" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1791. (references)

Etymology: Pica \Pi"ca\, noun. [Latin expression pica pie, magpie; in sense probably named from some resemblance to the colors of the magpie. Compare to Pie magpie.]. (Websters 1913)

Specialty Definitions: Pica

Domain	Definitions
Health	A craving to eat nonfood items, such as dirt, paint chips, and clay. Some children exhibit pica-related behavior. (references)
Publishing & Graphic Arts	Unit of measurement used in printing. Source: European Union. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Specialty Definition: Pica

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

The word pica can refer to:

An abnormal appetite for earth and other non-foods - see pica (disorder).
A historical unit of type size - see font.
A genus of magpie - see Pica.

Pica (disorder)

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Pica is an abnormal appetite for earth and other non-foods. Pica is common in small children, and occasionally in pregnant women. In extreme forms it is regarded as a medical disorder.

Examples of pica are:

geophagy (consumption of soil)
mucophagy (consumption of mucus)
trichophagia (consumption of hair or wool)
scatophagy (consumption of excerement or other filth)
please add more examples to this list

Pregnant women have been known to develop strong cravings for soil, chalk, laundry starch, and other non-foods. Some theorize that the women may be craving trace minerals lacking in their system, but there have been no major studies on this.

Warning: pica in children, whilst common, can be dangerous: children eating painted plaster may suffer brain damage from lead poisoning from lead in the paint.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Pica."

Top

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Pica

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
Entry	Source	Expression	Field
PICA	English	Private Investment Company for Asia	N/A
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top

Synonyms: Pica

Synonyms: em (n), genus Pica (n), geophagia (n), geophagy (n), pica em (n). (additional references)

Top

Synonyms within Context: Pica

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Printing	Typography; stereotype, electrotype, aprotype; type, black letter, font, fount; pi, pie; capitals; (letters); brevier, bourgeois, pica;
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Top

Crosswords: Pica

English words defined with "pica": Double pica ♦ genus Pica ♦ Long primer ♦ pica em, Pica pica, Pica pica hudsonia, Point system of type bodies ♦ Reglet ♦ Small pica ♦ Woodpecker hornbill. (references)

Non-English Usage: "Pica" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Albanian (pizza), German (Pica), Latin (jay, magpie, magpie;, pica, pie), Romanian (drip, drop, drop in, fall, flunk, pop in, spin), Serbo-Croatian (pizza), Spanish (pica, Pike).

Top

Modern Usage: Pica

Domain

Usage

Movie/TV Titles

La Pica sul Pacifico (1959)

Si te pica una mosca (1942)

Pica Compadrito Pica (1903)

30 cm de Pica e Demais (1999)

Pica para malaiata (1975)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Commercial Usage: Pica

Domain	Title
References	Pica (M) Corporation Berhad: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference) (more reference examples)

Books	PICA (M) CORP. BERHAD: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference) Pica 2001: Innovative Computing for Power-Electric Energy Meets the Market: International Conference on Power Industry Computer Applications 20-24 m (reference) Pica Roman Type in Elizabethan England (reference) Pica, Pica Varicela (Hello Reader, Level 1) (reference) (more book examples)

Music	A Mambo Que Pica (reference) Como Pica (reference) (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech	Brother Pica 10 Printwheel for Typewriters (reference) (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Non-Fiction Usage: Pica

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		Individuals with mental retardation and/or severe behavioral disturbances of undetermined etiology, such as hyperactivity, aggression, self-injurious behavior, and pica, should be screened for PKU regardless of the individual's age. Individuals with mental retardation due to PKU who are experiencing severe behavioral disturbances should be considered for dietary treatment lasting for at least 6 months, because metabolic control has been reported to improve behavior in such patients. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Top

Usage Frequency: Pica

"Pica" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 84.00% of the time. "Pica" is used about 25 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	84%	21	76,261
Noun (proper)	12%	3	202,518
Noun (common)	4%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	25	N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top

Name Usage Frequency: Pica

The following table summarizes the usage of "pica" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.

Name	Usage/Gender	Usage per 100 million Persons	Rank in USA
Pica	Last name	1,000	17,611
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top

Usage in Company Names: Pica

Country	Name
Malaysia	Pica (M) Corporation Berhad
	(more examples...)

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

Top

Expression: Pica

Expressions using "pica": Buceros pica ♦ Double pica ♦ genus Pica ♦ pica caudata ♦ pica em ♦ pica Hudsonica ♦ pica Nuttalli ♦ pica pica ♦ pica pica hudsonia ♦ small pica. Additional references.
Hyphenated Usage
	Beginning with "pica": pica-pica.
	Ending with "pica": pica-pica.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Pica

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Expression	Frequency per Day	Expression	Frequency per Day
pica	416	hot pica pico sauce	4
amarelo pau pica sitio	45	loader pica	4
pau pica	23	free pica	4
amarelo pau pica sítio	19	pau pica sitio	4
eating disorder pica	12	pica pregnancy	4
pica pica	11	amarelo.pt pau pica sitio	4
pica ruler	10	pica disease	4
pica disorder	10	pica treatment	3
model pica	7	condition medical pica	3
francesc pica	7	amarelo pau personagens pica sitio	3
pico pica	7	pica point	3
dog pica	6	inch pica	3
amarelo pau pica	6	pica waco	3
extiende pica se y	6	amarelo pau personagens pica sítio	3
bird pica pica	5	pica w32	3
animation pica	5	enterprise pica	3
image pica rave	5	desenho pau pica	3
behavior pica	5	dragonball pica	2
pica view	5	magpie pica pica	2
dura pica	4	1157 pica	2
		pica spitfire	2
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top

Modern Translations: Pica

Language		Translations for "pica"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		germë 12-she. (various references)

Bulgarian		цицер, извращение на апетита. (various references)

Chinese		１２点活字. (various references)

Danish		pica (allotriophagy, licking sickness, twelve-point), tolv punkt (twelve-point), kridtspisen, geofagi, cicero (cicero, twelve-point), allotriofagi (allotriophagy, licking sickness). (various references)

Dutch		pica (allotriophagy, licking sickness), likzucht (allotriophagy, licking sickness), letter van twaalf punten (twelve-point), letter van 12 punten (twelve-point), cicero (Cicero), allotriophagia (allotriophagy, licking sickness), allotriofagie (allotriophagy, licking sickness). (various references)

Finnish		outojen aineiden syömähimo (allotriophagy, licking sickness), muun kuin normaalin ruoan syömähimo (allotriophagy, licking sickness). (various references)

French		douze, cicéro. (various references)

German		Pikazismus (perverted appetite), Pica-Syndrom (perverted appetite), Lecksucht (allotriophagy, licking sickness), Kreideessen, Ciceroschrift (twelve-point), Cicero (cicero, twelve-point), Allotriophagie (allotriophagy, licking sickness). (various references)

Greek		στοιχείο των 12 στιγμών (twelve-point), αλλοτριοφαγία (allotriophagy, licking sickness), τυπογραφική σειρά 12 στιγμέσ. (various references)

Hungarian		ciceró (Cicero, small pica). (various references)

Italian		picotismo (perverted appetite), picacismo (perverted appetite), pica (allotriophagy, licking sickness, perverted appetite), paroressia (perverted appetite), dodici (twelve, xii), cittosi (perverted appetite), cissa (perverted appetite), cicero (cicero), allotriofagia (allotriophagy, licking sickness). (various references)

Japanese Kanji		異食症 (allotriophagy). (various references)

Japanese Katakana		いしょくしょう (allotriophagy). (various references)

Pig Latin		icapay

Portuguese		picacismo (allotriophagy, licking sickness), pica (allotriophagy, licking sickness, paint and plaster) favours lead poisoning, paper, pica (an appetite for nonfood items such as dirt, raiser), malacia (allotriophagy, licking sickness), depravação do apetite (allotriophagy, licking sickness), corpo doze (twelve-point), cícero (Cicero), alotriófagia (allotriophagy, licking sickness). (various references)

Romanian		cicero. (various references)

Russian		цицеро. (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		vrsta patološke gladi, cicero (cicero). (various references)

Spanish		pica (Pike), cícero (cicero, twelve-point). (various references)

Swedish		picasyndrom (allotriophagy, licking sickness), pica (allotriophagy, licking sickness), cicero (cicero), allotriofagi (allotriophagy, licking sickness), 12 punkters stilgrad. (various references)

Turkish		pika, on iki puntoluk harf. (various references)

Ukranian		спотворений апетит, цицеро (em). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Top

Ancestral Language Translations: Pica

Language	Period	Translations
Latin	500 BCE-Modern	pica. (various references)
Medieval Latin	700-1500	pica. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top

Derivations & Misspellings: Pica

Derivations
	Words beginning with "pica": picacho, picachos, picador, picadores, picadors, pical, picaninnies, picaninny, picante, picara, picaras, picaresque, picaresques, picaro, picaroon, picarooned, picarooning, picaroons, picaros, picas, picayune, picayunes, picayunish. (additional references)
	Words ending with "pica": spica. (additional references)
	Words containing "pica": abapical, allotypically, anisotropically, anthropical, apical, apically, apicals, archetypical, atypical, atypicalities, atypicality, atypically, despicable, despicableness, despicablenesses, despicably, ectopically, endoscopically, entropically, epical, epically, epicalyces, epicalyx, epicalyxes, epicardia, epicardial, epicardium, epicarp, epicarps, fluoroscopically, genotypical, genotypically, geotropically, gyroscopically, haruspication, haruspications, hypertypical, intertropical, isentropically, isotopically, kaleidoscopically, karyotypically, macroscopically, megascopically, microscopical, microscopically, misanthropically, myopically, nontropical, nontypical, orthoepically. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Pica" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Bica, Bpic, Cipa, epica, Gica, ica, icca, Ipico, Ippa, Pacal, pacca, pacha, Paci, Paeca, Paiba, paka, Palca, Pauca, paxa, Pcca, pce, pci, pcia, pcu, peca, Pecca, pece, peci, peciam, peco, pecu, pemco, pexa, phic, piaco, piah, picab, pical, picao, picar, picat, Picauo, picay, picc, pich, picka, pico, picol, picor, pics, picta, Pidar, Piecha, Pifco, piga, piha, piila, pik, pika, Pikaia, piki, pikka, piko, Pila, pilce, Pincay, pioca, pira, pisac, pisca, Pishu, pissa, Piva, pixa, piya, piza, poika, poka, pooca, prica, Ptca, Puca, pucca, pucci, Puica, Pusca, pyc, pyka, Pymar, sica, spica, tpca, wica. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top

Rhyming with "Pica"

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "pica" (pronounced pī"ku)
3	-ī" k u	mica.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Top

Anagrams: Pica

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-c-i-p"
	-1 letter: cap, pac, pia, pic.
	-2 letters: ai, pa, pi.
	Words containing the letters "a-c-i-p"
	+1 letter: aspic, campi, carpi, panic, pical, picas, plica, spica.
	+2 letters: adipic, apical, apices, apiece, apneic, aspics, atopic, atypic, bipack, caliph, capias, capita, caplin, capric, capris, capsid, catnip, epical, haptic, icecap, impact, ipecac, pacify, pacing, painch, panics, phasic, phatic, pianic, picara, picaro, pickax, piracy, placid, plaice, plicae, plical, scampi, spicae, spicas, tipcat.
	+3 letters: acapnia, agapeic, aphasic, aphetic, aphonic, aphotic, apicals, apiculi, aplitic, apnoeic, apogeic, apomict, apraxic, apricot, aprotic, aseptic, auspice, bipacks, calipee, caliper, caliphs, campier, campily, camping, campion, cantrip, capelin, capital, capitol, caplins, capping, caprice, caprine, capsids, capsize, captain, caption, captive, carping, catnips, chapati, charpai, cheapie, coalpit, copaiba, crampit, craping, crappie, cyprian, diptyca, ectopia, edaphic, epicarp, episcia, graphic, haircap, hepatic, icecaps, impacts, impeach, inclasp, inscape, ipecacs, isopach, jalapic, oilcamp, opacify, opacity, optical, pachisi, pacific, packing, paction, panicky, panicle, panicum, paprica, paretic, parodic, parotic, paucity, peacing, peccavi, peculia, pedicab, pelagic, pelican, pemican, peracid, phallic, picacho, picador, picante, picaras, picaros, pickaxe, picrate, pinnace, piratic, piscary, piscina, placing, placoid, plaices, plasmic, plastic, pliancy, plicate, potamic, practic, priapic, primacy, privacy, prosaic, psalmic, psoatic, puranic, pyaemic, replica, sapphic, scaping, scrapie, spacial, spacier, spacing, spastic, spathic, special, spicate, spicula, spinach, tapioca, tipcart, tipcats, topical, tripack, typical, wickape.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.