pica

Meaning

Noun

• A disorder characterized by craving and appetite for non-edible substances, such as ice, clay, chalk, dirt, or sand.
• A size of type between small pica and English, now standardized as 12-point.
• A font of this size.
• A unit of length equivalent to 12 points, officially cm (0.166 in) after 1886 but now in.
• A pie or directory: the book directing Roman Catholic observance of saints' days and other feasts under various calendars.
• A magpie.

Origin

• From Latin pīca ("magpie, jay"), from the idea that magpies will eat almost anything.
• From Medieval Latin pica, possibly from Latin pīca after the piebald appearance of the typeset page (cf. pie). The relation to the printer's measure is unclear, as no edition of the text in pica type is known. The French pica derives from English rather than vice versa.
• From Latin