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pico

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Etymology and origin of the Portuguese word pico

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
1589 Arrais More words from the 16th century
Ultimate origin
Latin *picco
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Portuguese picar
Portuguese pico

Pronunciation

  • Brazil: /ˈpi.ku/[1]
  • Portugal: /ˈpi.ku/[1]

Forms

pico m (plural picos)[1]

Etymology

Houaiss, Aurélio, Michaelis and the DLP explain it as a back-formation from Portuguese picar (“to prick”), the noun of the pointed thing that pricks;[2][3][4][5][6] Nascentes derives the sense “point, pointed mountain” from the verb in the same way.[2][3][4][5][6] Houaiss takes the verb to be an expressive formation on an imitative base meaning “blow”, going back to Vulgar Latin, and Wiktionary gives Vulgar Latin *pīccō (“to puncture”).[7][8]

Wiktionary instead makes the noun a continuation of Old Galician-Portuguese bico “beak”, from Latin beccus, a word perhaps of Gaulish origin.[1] Corominas argues the same for Spanish pico: the Portuguese and Asturian form bico show that it is the Latin word of Celtic origin, reshaped under the influence of the verb picar.[9][10] The older Portuguese dictionaries spoke of a Celtic word meaning “point”.[11][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the sense “sharp summit of a mountain” to 1589, from Arrais.[2] The medieval texts already have pico for a pointed tool or weapon: a cantiga of Johan Soarez de Pavia has non lh' an medo de pico nen de marra “they fear neither pick nor sledgehammer”, and the Crónica Geral has et escaleyras nõ tijnã y nẽ picos “and they had there neither ladders nor picks”.[13][14]

Semantic evolution

Bluteau defines the peak as the highest, sharpest and steepest part of a mountain, with a quotation from Lucena about mountains whose peaks rise above the clouds.[15] Houaiss dates the sense “sharp point” to 1665; from it come “thorn”, the tool for dressing stone, and figuratively a tart taste or a witty remark.[2][3] From the summit comes “highest point, height”, now common in horário de pico “rush hour” and pico de produção.[2][4] After a number e pico means “and a bit more”: quatro horas e pico.[3][16] Brazilian slang uses it for a dose of a drug injected at once.[2] The island of Pico in the Azores is named after its mountain.[1]

Timeline

  • 1589 – first record of the sense “peak of a mountain”.[2]
  • 1665 – the sense “sharp point”.[2]
  • 1697 – Pereira translates it by Latin apex.[17]
  • 1712–1728 – Bluteau defines the peak of a mountain.[15]
  • 1734 – Feijó defines it as the highest and sharpest part of a mountain.[18]

Meanings

Noun

  1. The sharp summit of a mountain; a peak; by extension a high mountain ending in a point.[2][19][1]
  2. The highest point of something; the height, auge: horário de pico.[2][20][1]
  3. A sharp point; a thorn.[2][3][1]
  4. A tool for dressing stone, a picão.[19][5][1]
  5. (figurative) A tart or acid taste: um vinho com pico.[2][3]
  6. (figurative) Wit, a witty remark.[2][3]
  7. (figurative) A small amount;[2][3] e pico “and a little more”.[2][3]
  8. (Brazil, informal) Agitation, tumult.[2][19][1]
  9. (Brazil, slang) A dose of a drug injected at one time.[2][3][1]
  10. (north-eastern Brazil) The stinging hair of certain plants.[2][3]
  11. (informal, usually plural) The bubbles of a fizzy drink.[19][1]

Word family

  • picoto
  • horário de pico

Usage notes

Pico “picul”, an old weight of the Far East of about 60 kilograms, is a separate word, from Malay pikul “a man's load”;[21][5] Dalgado quotes it from 1536 on.[21][5] Houaiss also has a 19th-century adjective and noun pico for the Pici, an ancient people near the Sea of Azov, from Latin pici.[2] Pico is also the first person singular present of picar.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pico
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. pico
  4. ^ a b c Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. pico
  5. ^ a b c d e 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. pico
  6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. pico
  7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. picar
  8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. picar
  9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 525
  10. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. pico
  11. ^ 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
  12. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. pico
  13. ^ 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. pico
  14. ^ 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. pico
  15. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pico
  16. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. pico
  17. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pico
  18. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pico
  19. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. pico
  20. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7162
  21. ^ a b Dalgado, Sebastião Rodolfo (1919–1921), Glossário luso-asiático, 2 vols., Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade, p. 2, 208
  22. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. pico
Cite this entry

“Pico.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/pt/pico. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·