pique

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.

verb

1. (transitive)
   1. To wound the pride of (someone); to excite to anger; to irritate, to offend.
   2. To excite (someone) to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate (an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest).
      I believe this will pique your interest.
      I have been hugely involved in the operational side until this point, but now I can speak to operators and other businesses such as American and European companies, because we seem to have piqued interest. 2 January 2020, Richard Clinnick, “After Some Alarms, Sleeper Awakens”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 47
   3. (reflexive) To pride (oneself) on something.
      The American hunters pique themselves on their skill in shooting Racoons; which, from the extraordinary vigilance and cunning of the animals, is by no means an easy task. 1850, [Jane] Loudon, “The Racoon. (Procyon, or Ursus lotor.)”, in The Entertaining Naturalist:[…], new edition, London: Henry G[eorge] Bohn,[…], →OCLC, page 43
   4. (reflexive, obsolete) To excite or stimulate (oneself).
2. (intransitive)
   1. To take pride in.
   2. To excite to action, especially by causing jealousy, resentment, etc.; also, to stimulate an emotion or feeling, especially curiosity or interest.
   3. (obsolete, rare) To express jealousy, resentment, etc. at someone; to become angry or annoyed.

noun

1. (uncountable) Enmity, ill feeling; (countable) a feeling of animosity or a dispute.
   [L]ong, costly, and bloody wars had arisen upon a point of ceremony, upon a personal pique, upon a hasty word, upon some explosion of momentary caprice; […] 1853, Thomas De Quincey, “On War”, in Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers.[…], volume II, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC, pages 199–200
2. (uncountable) 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.
   You think this is a personal thing with me? Are you telling me I think of this in terms of a personal pique? 27 June 1957, Clifford Odets, Ernest Lehman, Alexander Mackendrick (uncredited), Sweet Smell of Success
   This defiance was not a fit of pique, but a matter of principle. He [Mandela's father] was asserting his traditional prerogative as a chief and was challenging the authority of the magistrate. 1994, Nelson Mandela, chapter 1, in Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, part 1 (A Country Childhood), page 6
   [Jürgen] Klopp’s team had the better balance between attack and defence and, crucially, they got lucky with the disallowed goal that brought [Pep] Guardiola to the point of spontaneous combustion at half-time. Guardiola’s fit of pique led to his banishment from the dugout and City will wonder what might have happened if they had taken a 2–0 lead into the second half. 10 April 2018, Daniel Taylor, “Liverpool go through after Mohamed Salah stops Manchester City fightback”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-10-03
3. (countable, obsolete) In pique of honour: a matter, a point.

Etymology 2

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.

noun

1. (card games) In piquet, the right of the elder hand to count thirty in hand, or to play before the adversary counts one.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive, card games, archaic or obsolete) To score a pique against (someone).

Etymology 3

(left) and drawing of a chigger, chigoe, or jigger (Tunga penetrans), formerly also known as a pique.]] Borrowed from Spanish pique, from Central Quechua piki.

noun

1. (obsolete) A chigger, chigoe, or jigger (Tunga penetrans), a species of tropical flea.

Etymology 4

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.

noun

1. (sewing) Alternative form of piqué (“a kind of corded or ribbed fabric made from cotton, rayon, or silk”)
   Pique and linen also accented several coats and oftentimes were both detachable and formed an overcollar covering a collar made from the coat fabric. 1967, Ann Helen Stroup, An Investigation of the Dress of American Children from 1930 Through 1941 with Emphasis on Factors Influencing Change, page 195

Etymology 5

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”).

noun

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