piquer

Etymology

From Middle French picquer, from Old French piquer (“to pierce with the tip of a sword”) (cf. also pikier), from proto-Romance or Vulgar Latin *pīccare (“to sting, strike”) or *pikkāre (compare Occitan, Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish picar), itself either from an onomatopoetic root *pikk- (cf. also Latin picus, whence French pic), or alternatively, from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikōną, *pukaną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *beu-, *bu- (“to make a dull sound”). Cognate with Old English pȳcan, pician (“to pick, pluck”), Old Norse pikka (“to prick, peck”), Middle Dutch and Middle Low German picken (“to pick, peck, pierce”), Middle High German puchen (“to knock, defy, plunder”). More at pick.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.ke/

• audio

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• Homophones: piquai, piqué, piquée, piquées, piqués, piquez

Verb

piquer

1. to prick (pierce with a prick)
2. to sting (feel a stinging pain)
3. (colloquial) to nick, pinch, steal
4. (reflexive) to pride oneself on; to like to think that one can do (+ de)
5. (textiles, couture) to stitch together

Further reading

• “piquer” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• piqure, piqûre