PICA

Pica, genus Pica

(noun) magpies

em, pica em, pica

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

pica

(noun) an eating disorder, frequent in children, in which non-nutritional objects are eaten persistently

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Noun

pica (usually uncountable, plural picas)

(pathology) A disorder characterized by craving and appetite for non-edible substances, such as ice, clay, chalk, dirt, or sand.

Synonyms: allotriophagy, chthonophagia, cittosis, geophagy

Etymology 2

Noun

pica (countable and uncountable, plural picas)

(typography, printing, uncountable) A size of type between small pica and English, standardized as 12-point.

(typography, uncountable, usually with qualifier) A font of this size.

(typography, countable) A unit of length equivalent to 12 points, officially 35/83 cm (0.166 in) after 1886 but now (computing) 1/6 in.

(uncommon, ecclesiastical) A pie or directory: the book directing Roman Catholic observance of saints' days and other feasts under various calendars.

Etymology 3

Noun

pica (plural picas)

Archaic form of pika. (small lagomorph)

Etymology 4

Noun

pica (plural picas)

A magpie.

Anagrams

• ACPI, APIC, apic, capi, paci

Etymology

Noun

PICA (plural PICAs)

(spaceflight) Abbreviation of phenolic impregnated carbon ablator.

Anagrams

• ACPI, APIC, apic, capi, paci

Source: Wiktionary


Pi"ca, n. Etym: [L. pica a pie, magpie; in sense 3 prob. named from some resemblance to the colors of the magpie. Cf. Pie magpie.]

1. (Zoöl.)

Definition: The genus that includes the magpies.

2. (Med.)

Definition: A vitiated appetite that craves what is unfit for food, as chalk, ashes, coal, etc.; chthonophagia.

3. (R. C. Ch.)

Definition: A service-book. See Pie. [Obs.]

4. (Print.)

Definition: A size of type next larger than small pica, and smaller than English.

Note: This line is printed in pica

Note: Pica is twice the size of nonpareil, and is used as a standard of measurement in casting leads, cutting rules, etc., and also as a standard by which to designate several larger kinds of type, as double pica, two-line pica, four-line pica, and the like. Small pica (Print.), a size of type next larger than long primer, and smaller than pica.

Note: This line is printed in small pica

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

22 March 2023

SILKWORM

(noun) the commercially bred hairless white caterpillar of the domestic silkworm moth which spins a cocoon that can be processed to yield silk fiber; the principal source of commercial silk


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Coffee Trivia

Coffee dates back to the 9th century. Goat herders in Ethiopia noticed their goats seem to be “dancing” after eating berries from a particular shrub. They reported it to the local monastery, and a monk made a drink out of it. The monk found out he felt energized and kept him awake at night. That’s how the first coffee drink was born.

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