pica
pica Lexical Profile
pica Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A medical and psychological eating disorder characterized by a compulsive appetite for non-nutritive substances, such as clay, dirt, chalk, or paper.
"The pediatrician screened the toddler for iron deficiency after she exhibited signs of pica by eating paint chips and soil."
A standard unit of typographic measurement equal to 12 points or approximately one-sixth of an inch, used to measure column widths and type sizes.
"The graphic designer adjusted the column margins by two picas to improve the layout of the magazine page."
A standard size of typewriter font that produces ten characters per horizontal inch, as opposed to the smaller elite size.
"The legal manuscript was typed on a vintage machine using standard pica type for readability."
• Rhymes for pica
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Medieval Latin pica ('magpie'), a bird historically noted for its indiscriminate appetite and habit of collecting non-food objects; the typographic sense derives from the black-and-white contrast of medieval liturgical rulebooks known as picas.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.