WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Pi"ca
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [L. pica a pie, magpie; in sense 3 prob. named from some resemblance to the colors of the magpie. Cf. Pie magpie.]
Definition : 1. (Zo?l.)

Defn: The genus that includes the magpies.

2. (Med.)

Defn: A vitiated appetite that craves what is unfit for food, as chalk, ashes, coal, etc.; chthonophagia.

3. (R. C. Ch.)

Defn: A service-book. See Pie. [Obs.]

4. (Print.)

Defn: A size of type next larger than small pica, and smaller than English.

Note: This line is printed in pica

Note: Pica is twice the size of nonpareil, and is used as a standard of measurement in casting leads, cutting rules, etc., and also as a standard by which to designate several larger kinds of type, as double pica, two-line pica, four-line pica, and the like. Small pica (Print.), a size of type next larger than long primer, and smaller than pica.

Note: This line is printed in small pica
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913