pica

IPA/ˈpaɪkə/
KK[pˈaɪkə]IPA/ˈpaɪkə/

pica — noun

1. A medical condition in which someone has an uncontrollable urge to swallow items

1.nounC2
Definition

A medical condition in which someone has an uncontrollable urge to swallow items with no nutritional value — such as dirt, chalk, paper, or hair — often linked to nutritional shortages, mental health conditions, or developmental disorders.

Example

The doctor diagnosed Tendai with pica after he kept eating handfuls of soil.

collocation: diagnose with pica

Stephanie's three-year-old son was treated for pica at the children's clinic.

collocation: treated for pica

Common collocations
  • diagnose with pica
  • treated for pica
  • pica in children
  • pica during pregnancy

Usage Note

A clinical diagnosis; not the same as ordinary chewing habits or temporary mouthing behaviour in toddlers, which are developmentally normal.

Common Mistakes

My toddler eats sand at the park — I think he has pica.
My toddler eats sand at the park
I asked the doctor whether it might be pica.' — Mouthing non-food items is normal in young children; pica is a medical diagnosis requiring professional assessment.

2. In printing, a measurement equal to about one-sixth of an inch; twelve points ma

2.nounC2
Definition

In printing, a measurement equal to about one-sixth of an inch; twelve points make one pica, which was the standard typewriter type size.

Example

Xiu set the left margin of her document to exactly two picas.

countable: two picas

The old printing manual showed Owen how wide a pica really is.

Common collocations
  • pica ruler
  • pica pole
  • pica measurement
  • pica width

Usage Note

Distinguish from point — a pica contains 12 points, so 12-point type and one-pica type describe the same physical size.

Common Mistakes

Set the font to one pica.
Set the font size to 12 points, which equals one pica.
Pica measures physical length on a printed page, not digital font size directly.

Etymology

LatinMedieval LatinEnglish

From Latin pica meaning 'magpie', a bird known for collecting and eating almost anything. The medical sense emerged in the 16th century, comparing the condition to the magpie's indiscriminate appetite. The printing sense follows a separate path: medieval Latin pica referred to a book of church rules printed in a standard black-letter type, and the term later came to name the type size itself.

First known use

1563

1563, in the meaning defined above Noun (2)