Pika
//ˈpiːkə// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and Asia.
- 2 small short-eared burrowing mammal of rocky uplands of Asia and western North America wordnet
Etymology
From French, from an Evenki word which Peter Simon Pallas transcribes as piika or peeka, but which cannot be found in modern dictionaries. Probably ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare typologically German Pfeifhase (< pfeifen (+ Hase) << Latin pīpō), Czech pišťucha, Russian пищу́ха (piščúxa) (akin to пища́ть (piščátʹ), писк (pisk)).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.