piquer
English
Etymology
pique + -er
Noun
piquer (plural piquers)
- One who piques.
- 1895, Harper's New Monthly Magazine (volume 91, page 644)
- You are what I may call a piquer of curiosity.
- 1972, North Carolina Folklore Journal (1972-1973) (page 85)
- The name above the door is F. Dula. Under the circumstances, an interest piquer.
- 1895, Harper's New Monthly Magazine (volume 91, page 644)
French
Etymology
From Middle French picquer, from Old French piquer (“to pierce with the tip of a sword”) (cf. also pikier), from proto-Romance or Vulgar Latin *pīccare (“to sting, strike”) or *pikkāre (compare Occitan, Catalan, Portuguese, and Spanish picar), itself either from an onomatopoeic root *pikk- (cf. also Latin picus, whence French pic), or alternatively, from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikōną, *pukaną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *beu-, *bu- (“to make a dull sound”).
Cognate with Old English pȳcan, pician (“to pick, pluck”); Old Norse pikka (“to prick, peck”); Middle Dutch and Middle Low German picken (“to pick, peck, pierce”); Middle High German puchen (“to knock, defy, plunder”). More at pick.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /pi.ke/
audio (file) - Homophones: piquai, piqué, piquée, piquées, piqués, piquez
Verb
piquer
- (transitive) to prick; to sting
- (intransitive) to sting
- Ça pique ! ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- (transitive, of an animal) to put down, to euthanise
- faire piquer son chien ― to have one's dog put down
- (colloquial, transitive, transitive with à) to nick, pinch, steal
- piquer quelque chose à quelqu'un ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
- Synonyms: chiper, subtiliser, voler
- (reflexive, transitive with de) to pride oneself on; to like to think that one can do
- (textiles, couture) to stitch together
Conjugation
Conjugation of piquer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | piquer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | piquant /pi.kɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | piqué /pi.ke/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | pique /pik/ | piques /pik/ | pique /pik/ | piquons /pi.kɔ̃/ | piquez /pi.ke/ | piquent /pik/ |
| imperfect | piquais /pi.kɛ/ | piquais /pi.kɛ/ | piquait /pi.kɛ/ | piquions /pi.kjɔ̃/ | piquiez /pi.kje/ | piquaient /pi.kɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | piquai /pi.ke/ | piquas /pi.ka/ | piqua /pi.ka/ | piquâmes /pi.kam/ | piquâtes /pi.kat/ | piquèrent /pi.kɛʁ/ | |
| future | piquerai /pi.kʁe/ | piqueras /pi.kʁa/ | piquera /pi.kʁa/ | piquerons /pi.kʁɔ̃/ | piquerez /pi.kʁe/ | piqueront /pi.kʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | piquerais /pi.kʁɛ/ | piquerais /pi.kʁɛ/ | piquerait /pi.kʁɛ/ | piquerions /pi.kə.ʁjɔ̃/ | piqueriez /pi.kə.ʁje/ | piqueraient /pi.kʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | pique /pik/ | piques /pik/ | pique /pik/ | piquions /pi.kjɔ̃/ | piquiez /pi.kje/ | piquent /pik/ |
| imperfect2 | piquasse /pi.kas/ | piquasses /pi.kas/ | piquât /pi.ka/ | piquassions /pi.ka.sjɔ̃/ | piquassiez /pi.ka.sje/ | piquassent /pi.kas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | pique /pik/ | — | piquons /pi.kɔ̃/ | piquez /pi.ke/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Conjugation of se piquer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | se piquer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | se piquant /sə pi.kɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant or étant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | piqué /pi.ke/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | me pique /mə pik/ | te piques /tə pik/ | se pique /sə pik/ | nous piquons /nu pi.kɔ̃/ | vous piquez /vu pi.ke/ | se piquent /sə pik/ |
| imperfect | me piquais /mə pi.kɛ/ | te piquais /tə pi.kɛ/ | se piquait /sə pi.kɛ/ | nous piquions /nu pi.kjɔ̃/ | vous piquiez /vu pi.kje/ | se piquaient /sə pi.kɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | me piquai /mə pi.ke/ | te piquas /tə pi.ka/ | se piqua /sə pi.ka/ | nous piquâmes /nu pi.kam/ | vous piquâtes /vu pi.kat/ | se piquèrent /sə pi.kɛʁ/ | |
| future | me piquerai /mə pi.kʁe/ | te piqueras /tə pi.kʁa/ | se piquera /sə pi.kʁa/ | nous piquerons /nu pi.kʁɔ̃/ | vous piquerez /vu pi.kʁe/ | se piqueront /sə pi.kʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | me piquerais /mə pi.kʁɛ/ | te piquerais /tə pi.kʁɛ/ | se piquerait /sə pi.kʁɛ/ | nous piquerions /nu pi.kə.ʁjɔ̃/ | vous piqueriez /vu pi.kə.ʁje/ | se piqueraient /sə pi.kʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) | present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | me pique /mə pik/ | te piques /tə pik/ | se pique /sə pik/ | nous piquions /nu pi.kjɔ̃/ | vous piquiez /vu pi.kje/ | se piquent /sə pik/ |
| imperfect2 | me piquasse /mə pi.kas/ | te piquasses /tə pi.kas/ | se piquât /sə pi.ka/ | nous piquassions /nu pi.ka.sjɔ̃/ | vous piquassiez /vu pi.ka.sje/ | se piquassent /sə pi.kas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | pique-toi /pik.twa/ | — | piquons-nous /pi.kɔ̃.nu/ | piquez-vous /pi.ke.vu/ | — | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | |
| 1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- ne pas être piqué des hannetons
- ne pas être piqué des vers
- piquer au vif
- piquer du nez
- piquer une colère
- piquer une crise
- piquer une tête
- piquer un fard
- piquer un roupillon
- piquer un somme
- piqûre, piqure
- repiquer
- se piquer le nez
Descendants
- → English: pique
- → German: pikieren
- → Italian: piccarsi
- Louisiana Creole French: piqué
Further reading
- “piquer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
- piqure, piqûre