verb/pi.ke/
to prick; to sting; to sting; to put down, euthanise (an animal); to nick, pinch, steal; to pride oneself on; to like to think that one can do
“Ça pique !” — That stings!
Synonyms: poindre, chiper, subtiliser, voler, se lancer
Inherited 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 or more likely, from Frankish *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikōną, *pukaną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-