Pique

//piːk// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Enmity, ill feeling; (countable) a feeling of animosity or a dispute. uncountable

    "Men take up piques and diſpleaſures at others, and then every opinion of the diſliked perſon muſt partake of his fate, and be engaged in the quarrel: […]"

  2. 2
    In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.

    "Flip[panta]. Hark thee, Braſs, the Game's in our hands, if we can but play the Cards. / Br[ass]. Pique and Repique, you Jade you: If the Wives will fall into a good Intelligence."

  3. 3
    A chigger, chigoe, or jigger (Tunga penetrans), a species of tropical flea. obsolete
  4. 4
    Alternative form of piqué (“a kind of corded or ribbed fabric made from cotton, rayon, or silk”). alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable

    "Pique and linen also accented several coats and oftentimes were both detachable and formed an overcollar covering a collar made from the coat fabric."

  5. 5
    Synonym of pica (“a disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances”). obsolete, rare

    "The World is nat'rally averse / To all the truth it sees or hears, / But swallows Non-sense and a Lie / With greediness and gluttony; / And though it have the Pique, and long, / 'Tis still for something in the wrong: […]"

Show 5 more definitions
  1. 6
    tightly woven fabric with raised cords wordnet
  2. 7
    Irritation or resentment awakened by a social injury or slight; offence, especially taken in an emotional sense with little consideration or thought; (countable) especially in fit of pique: a transient feeling of wounded pride. uncountable

    "Tuſh! tuſh! you take the grave peake uppon you too much: who would think you could ſo eaſily ſhake off your olde friendes?"

  3. 8
    midgie, sand fly, punkie, punky (US)
  4. 9
    a sudden outburst of anger wordnet
  5. 10
    In pique of honour: a matter, a point. countable, obsolete

    "Add long preſcription of eſtabliſh'd laws, / And picque of honour to maintain a cauſe, / And ſhame of change, and fear of future ill, / And Zeal, the blind conductor of the will; […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend. transitive

    "The Dev'l was piqu'd, ſuch ſaintſhip to behold, / And long'd to tempt him like good Job of old: / But Satan novv is vviſer than of yore, / And tempts by making rich, not making poor."

  2. 2
    To score a pique against (someone). ambitransitive, archaic, obsolete

    "My villainous old luck ſtill follovvs me in gaming, I never throvv the Dice out of my hand, but my Gold goes after 'em: if I go to Picquet, though it be but vvith a Novice in't, he vvill picque and repicque, and Capot me tvventy times together: […]"

  3. 3
    cause to feel resentment or indignation wordnet
  4. 4
    To excite (someone) to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate (an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest). transitive

    "I believe this will pique your interest."

  5. 5
    To pride (oneself) on something. reflexive, transitive

    "[G]ood Nature may be ſetled in them [children] into a Habit, and they may take pleaſure and pique themſelves in being kind, liberal, and civil to others."

Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    To excite or stimulate (oneself). obsolete, reflexive, transitive
  2. 7
    To take pride in. intransitive
  3. 8
    To excite to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest. intransitive

    "Piqu'd by Protogenes's Fame, / From Co to Rhodes, Apelles came; / To ſee a Rival and a Friend, / Prepar'd to Cenſure, or Commend, […]"

  4. 9
    To express jealousy, resentment, etc. at someone; to become angry or annoyed. intransitive, obsolete, rare

    "For I obſerve, that all vvomen of your condition are like the vvomen of the Play-houſe, ſtill Piquing at each other, vvho ſhall go the beſt Dreſt, and in the Richeſt Habits: till you vvork up one another by your high flying, as the Heron and Jerfalcon do."

Etymology

Etymology 1

The verb is borrowed from French piquer (“to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry; to provoke, stimulate; (reflexive) to boast about”), from Middle French piquer, picquer (“to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry”), from Old French piquer (“to pierce with the tip of a sword”), from proto-Romance or Vulgar Latin *pīccare (“to sting; to strike”) or *pikkāre, and then either: * Onomatopoeic; or * from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to knock; to peck; to pick; to prick”). If so, pique is a doublet of pick, pitch, and peck. The noun is borrowed from Middle French pique (“a quarrel; resentment”) (modern French pique), from piquer, picquer (verb); see above.

Etymology 2

The verb is borrowed from French piquer (“to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry; to provoke, stimulate; (reflexive) to boast about”), from Middle French piquer, picquer (“to prick, sting; to anger, annoy; (reflexive) to get angry”), from Old French piquer (“to pierce with the tip of a sword”), from proto-Romance or Vulgar Latin *pīccare (“to sting; to strike”) or *pikkāre, and then either: * Onomatopoeic; or * from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to knock; to peck; to pick; to prick”). If so, pique is a doublet of pick, pitch, and peck. The noun is borrowed from Middle French pique (“a quarrel; resentment”) (modern French pique), from piquer, picquer (verb); see above.

Etymology 3

The noun is borrowed from French pic, Middle French pic (“pique in the game of piquet; pike (tool)”), picq (“game of piquet”), from Vulgar Latin *pīccus (“sharp point, peak; pike, spike”), possibly from Frankish *pikk, *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pikjaz, *pīkaz (“sharp point, peak; pickaxe; pike”); further etymology unknown. Doublet of pike. The verb is either derived from the noun (though the latter is attested in print later), or borrowed from French pic.

Etymology 4

The noun is borrowed from French pic, Middle French pic (“pique in the game of piquet; pike (tool)”), picq (“game of piquet”), from Vulgar Latin *pīccus (“sharp point, peak; pike, spike”), possibly from Frankish *pikk, *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pikjaz, *pīkaz (“sharp point, peak; pickaxe; pike”); further etymology unknown. Doublet of pike. The verb is either derived from the noun (though the latter is attested in print later), or borrowed from French pic.

Etymology 5

Borrowed from Spanish pique, from Central Quechua piki.

Etymology 6

A variant of piqué, borrowed from French piqué (“(noun) ribbed fabric; (ballet) step on to the point of the leading foot without bending the knee; (adjective) backstitched; (cooking) larded”), Middle French piqué (“quilted”), a noun use of the past participle of piquer (“to prick, sting; to decorate with stitches; to quilt; to stitch (fabric) together; to lard (meat)”); see further at etymology 1.

Etymology 7

A variant of pica, or from its etymon Late Latin pica (“disorder characterized by appetite and craving for non-edible substances”), from Latin pīca (“jay; magpie”) (from the idea that magpies will eat almost anything), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“magpie; woodpecker”).

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