picar

Forms

picar (first-person singular present pico, first-person singular preterite piquei, past participle picado)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *pīccō (“to prick, strike”), a verb found in almost all the Romance languages except Romanian, which must therefore go back to Vulgar Latin.^[2][1] Houaiss calls it an expressive creation on an onomatopoeic base ⟨*pic-⟩ or ⟨*picc-⟩ “blow”, with the verb ending -ar.^[2] Cunha and the DLP derive the Latin verb from *piccus, an expressive form of Latin pīcus (“woodpecker”), the bird named for its pecking.^[2][3] Wiktionary gives as another source Frankish *pikkōn (“to peck, strike”).^[1] Older views took it from a Celtic root meaning “point” or from the noun pico.^[4][5]

The same word is Galician picar, Spanish picar, Catalan picar, French piquer and Italian piccare.^[2][1] Houaiss reports Corominas's view that the onomatopoeia was formed twice, in Latin and again in Romance, once with a single and once with a double consonant.^[2] Corominas finds it in Spanish from the poem of the Cid on.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's earliest date, 1269, is a byname in a Latin document, Menendus fernandi picado.^[2][7] A cantiga d'escarnho of Roi Paez de Ribela uses pique figuratively for sexual intercourse.^[7][8] Pero Menino's text of the 15th century has the cooking sense: meat to be picada on a board, pica a bem miuda “chop it very fine”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Barbosa (1611) translates it with Latin pungo and stimulo, to prick and to goad.^[9] Folqman (1755) lists spurring a horse, chopping meat fine, cutting cables and wounding someone with words.^[10] Morais (1789) adds the bite of bees, mosquitoes and snakes, training a horse, riding (picamos até Lisboa), and harrying the enemy's rear.^[11]

Houaiss's modern list ranges from stinging and pecking to the burning taste of pepper, wounding feelings, and pressing on (picar o passo).^[2] Priberam and Porto Editora record the popular “to steal”.^[12][13] The bullfighting sense, to wound the bull with a lance, is in Vieira and the modern dictionaries.^[14][2]

Timeline

• 1269 – the byname picado in a Latin document.^[7]
• 15th century – the infinitive picar is recorded;^[2][7] Pero Menino has vianda picada “chopped meat”.^[2][7]
• 1611 – Barbosa translates it with Latin pungo and stimulo.^[9]
• 1755 – Folqman lists picar o cavallo and picar a carne.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais records the senses “to train a horse” and “to ride”.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. To prick or pierce with something sharp: Piquei o polegar num espinho.^[2][15]
2. (of insects and other animals) To sting or bite.^[2][13][1]
3. To peck.^[2][12]
4. To wound a bull with a lance; to harpoon a whale.^[2][15]
5. To make small holes in;^[2][13] (of moths) to eat holes in cloth or paper.^[2][13]
6. To chop or mince into small pieces.^[2][13][1]
7. To dress stone with a pick.^[12][13]
8. (of food, plants) To burn or tingle; to make itch.^[2][13]
9. (figurative) To hurt someone's feelings; to provoke or goad.^[2][12][1]
10. To spur a horse; to quicken the pace.^[2][13]
11. (informal) To steal.^[12][13]

Word family

• picada
• picadela
• picado
• picador
• picadura
• picante
• repicar

Related words

• pico
• Spanish picar
• French piquer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. picar
3. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. picar
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 396
5. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. picar
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 518
7. ^ a b c d e f Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. picar
8. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. picar
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. picar
10. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. picar
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 200
12. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. picar
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7158
14. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 4, 800
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. picar