Etymology: Apparently originally a variant (with short vowel) of pike n.¹, perhaps influenced by Anglo-Norman or Middle Dutch forms (see below and compare discussion s.v. pick v.¹). In Orkney and Shetland use (in senses 3c, 3d) perhaps influenced by the unattested Norn cognate of Icelandic pikka pickaxe, Norwegian pikke small hoe, pickaxe, Old Swedish pikka (in stenpikka implement for cutting stone; Swedish regional picka pickaxe), probably ultimately borrowings of an unattested Middle Low German form corresponding to Middle Dutch picke (see below). In sense 4 perhaps directly < pick v.¹ Compare Anglo-Norman pic , pik , pikke pickaxe, spike and Old French, Middle French, French pic pickaxe (see pike n.¹), and also Middle Dutch picke pickaxe, pointed implement, sickle (Dutch pik pickaxe, (regional) sickle, Afrikaans pik pickaxe, (obsolete) hay-fork) < the same base as Middle Dutch picken pick v.¹ Compare peck n.²Pick is the form in general English use in senses 2 and 4; in other senses the word is now either obsolete or restricted to regional use. In Middle English in forms pik , pyk the length of the vowel is often doubtful, and some examples may belong at pike n.¹ It is uncertain whether the following early example should be taken as showing the Middle English or the Anglo-Norman word (compare sense 2b):1337 in J. Raine Inventories & Acct. Rolls Benedictine Houses Jarrow & Monk-Wearmouth (1854) 142 ij pikkes pro molendino.

Etymology: Apparently originally a variant (with short vowel) of pike n.⁴ Compare pick n.¹

Etymology: < pick v.¹ Compare pick n.¹ 4.

Etymology: Origin uncertain; perhaps a specific use of pick n.³

Etymology: < pick v.²

Etymology: < French pique (1534 in Middle French), specific use of pique pike n.⁴ Sc. National Dict. at Pick n.⁶ records this sense as still in use in Banffshire and Aberdeenshire in 1965.

Etymology: < the name of Friedel J. Pick (1867–1926), Czech–Austrian physician, who described the condition in 1896 ( Zeitschr. f. klin. Med. 29 395).

Etymology: Short for pickpocket n.

Etymology: Shortened < piccaninny n.

Etymology: < the name of Arnold Pick (1851–1924), Austrian (Moravian) psychiatrist and neurologist, who described the condition in 1892 ( Prager Med. Wochenschr. 17 165).

Etymology: < pick n.³ (compare sense 8a at that entry).

Etymology: Apparently < pike n.¹; the β. forms (with original long ī ) are apparently primary, although first attested slightly later than the α. forms (with short ĭ ); the γ. forms, which probably developed directly from the α. forms, are not attested until much later (15th cent.); with α and γ forms compare pick n.¹ and peak n.² respectively (in α. forms perhaps influenced by Middle Dutch picken: see below). Compare also peck v.¹, apparently originally a variant of the α. forms. It is possible that the β. forms represent the reflex of an unattested Old English verb *pīcian (perhaps compare piking n.¹). Compare West Frisian pikke to pick, peck, Middle Dutch picken , pēken to pierce or strike with a pick, to pick, peck, to cut with a sickle or scythe, to glean (apparently < picke pick n.¹; Dutch pikken to pick, peck, prick, to steal, pilfer; compare also Dutch pieken (now rare), Dutch regional pijken , both in sense ‘to prick, stab, steal, pilfer’), German regional (Low German) picken to pick, peck, tap, German picken to pick, peck, Old Icelandic pikka to pick, prick, stab, Norwegian pikka to peck, tap, Old Swedish pikka to peck, prick, tap (Swedish picka to peck, prick, (regional) to tap), Danish pikke to peck, tap; all the Scandinavian forms are probably ultimately borrowings of an unattested Middle Low German form corresponding to Middle Dutch picken , as is also the modern standard German form (replacing earlier bicken : see beak v.). It will be seen that the continental Germanic forms mostly have a short stem vowel (compare α. forms), and appear to originate from a nucleus in the lower Rhine area, probably < the same Germanic base as pike n.¹ Compare also Old French, Middle French, French piquer to demolish with a pickaxe (second half of the 13th cent., now obsolete), to prick, pierce (c1306), to steal, pilfer (end of the 14th cent., now regional; compare also Old French pikier (1250), Middle French picquier (1448) to dig with a pickaxe), Old Occitan picar to strike (12th cent.), to knock, tap (c1212), to strike with a pickaxe (c1275), to peck (14th cent.; Occitan picar to knock, tap, prick, pierce, sting), Catalan picar to chop up small, peck, beat metal (13th cent.), to prick, pierce, sting (14th cent.), Spanish picar to prick, pierce, sting, peck (c1200), Portuguese picar to prick, pierce, sting (1269), Italian piccare to prick (1598, now archaic; compare picchiare to hit, strike, knock (a1292)), probably < the same Romance base as Old French, Middle French, French pic pickaxe (see pike n.¹ and discussion at that entry). The relationship between the Romance group and the Germanic group is involved and unclear. Although there is some agreement in sense with French piquer, the sense development of the Germanic words (including English) is rather different from that evident in Romance, in which the sense ‘to puncture, prick, pierce, sting’ generally predominates. It is unclear whether Welsh pigo to prick, pierce, peck, sting (14th cent.), Cornish piga to prick, sting, nettle (1701 or earlier) are related inherited forms or borrowings from English; Irish pioc and Scottish Gaelic pioc, both in sense ‘to pick, select’, are from English.The forms pick , pike , peak might have been treated as separate words, as with the corresponding nouns pick n.¹, pike n.¹, peak n.² But in the inflected forms of the verb in early examples, the length of the i is often doubtful, so that the separation of pick and pike would be difficult; and in modern English, pike and (rare) peak exist only as regional variants of pick . It is therefore more convenient to combine the three under the current standard form pick , separating the examples, where possible, under α, β, and γ, and stating in what senses pike and peak continue in regional use. Eng. Dial. Dict. records β forms in common use from northern and midland counties as far south as Worcestershire and Northamptonshire (γ forms are much less common, and are evidenced only from Cumberland, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, and Suffolk); Sc. National Dict. s.v. Pike v. records this form as still in use in all current senses of English pick in Orkney, north-eastern and eastern Scotland, and Roxburghshire in 1965 (γ forms are evidenced (less commonly) in 20th-cent. examples from all of the above areas with the exception of Orkney). In most regional use (as indeed in earlier use) the forms appear not to have been used in contradistinction; however, N.E.D.(1906) notes occasional differentiation: e.g. in south-eastern Scotland, where it is claimed that pike is distinct from pick , and used only in senses 2 and 3. peck v.¹, which apparently also shares the same origin, but which has become more restricted in sense (compare sense 1a), has been treated as a separate entry. Attested earlier (in various senses) in surnames, as (α forms) Sim. Pickebarli (1200), Laurencio Pickebarlic (c1273), Simon Pikharneis (1312), Joh. Picbark (1327), Thomas Pycloc (1338), Nich. Pykhauer (1379), Pikestrawe (1385), (β forms) Ricardus Pikeculvre (1225), Matheum Pikechin (1229), John Pykebon (1314), Joh. Pykehuskes (1316), etc.; with a number of these formations compare pick- comb. form. Even earlier currency of the word (in β forms) is probably implied by the early Middle English field name Picereshomm (see quot. a1200 at picker n.¹).