Etymology
1. O.E.
*pician "to prick," merged with O.N.
pikka "to prick, peck," common Gmc. (cf. M.Du.
picken, Ger.
picken "to pick, peck"), from PIE
*pik-/*pek-, an imitative base. The meaning "to choose, select, pick out" emerged c.1390, from earlier meaning "to pluck with the fingers" (c.1325). To
pick a quarrel, etc. is from c.1449; to
pick at "find fault with" is from c.1670.
Pick on "single out for adverse attention" is from c.1370; to
pick (someone) up "make someone's acquaintance aggressively for sexual purposes" is first recorded 1698.
Pick off "shoot one by one" is recorded from 1810; baseball sense of "to put out a runner on base" is from 1939.
Pickpocket is from 1591 (earlier
pick-purse, c.1386).
Pick-me-up "stimulating alcoholic drink" is attested from 1867.
Picky first recorded 1867.
2. From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck.
3. Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)). Compare also German Low German puken (“to pick out, rip out, pull away, extract”). See: Middle English '
piken', Proto-Germanic '
*pikkōną', Dutch '
pikken', German, old spelling '
picken', Icelandic '
pikka', Swedish '
picka'.
Verbs referencing "pick"
Cornish
pig, Danish
pikke, Norwegian
pikke, Welsh
pigo, Swedish
picka.