Etymograph

English

pike

Pike comes from Old English pīc ‘pointed object, pick axe’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *pīkaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pīkaz1‘sharp point, pike, pickaxe, peak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pīk1‘sharp point, pike’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400pic1‘sharp point, spike’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150pīc1‘pointed object, pick axe’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pyke1
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1558–1602pike1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English pike
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1558–1602, Ralph Rabbards, Ludus Conventriæ. A Collection of Mysteries: “An arme pike which a weake man maye use…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*pīkazWiktionary, English pike‘sharp point, pike, pickaxe, peak’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*pīkWiktionary, English pike‘sharp point, pike’reconstructed
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400picWiktionary, English pike‘sharp point, spike’
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150pīcWiktionary, English pike‘pointed object, pick axe’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500pykeWiktionary, English pike
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1558–1602pikeWiktionary, English pike. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1558–1602, Ralph Rabbards, Ludus Conventriæ. A Collection of Mysteries: “An arme pike which a weake man maye use…”

The story

From Middle English pyke, pyk, pik, pike (‘pike; sharp point, iron tip of a staff or spear, pointed toe of an item of footwear; sharp tool; mountain, peak’), from Old English pīc (‘pointed object, pick axe’), and Middle French pique (‘long thrusting weapon’), from Old French pic (‘sharp point, spike’); both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk, from Proto-Germanic *pīkaz, *pīkō (‘sharp point, pike, peak’), related to pick with a narrower meaning. The word is cognate with Middle Dutch pecke, peke, picke (modern Dutch piek), German Pike, Norwegian pik, Danish pig, and possibly Old Irish pīk. It is a doublet of pique. The diving or gymnastics position is probably from tapered appearance of the body when the position is executed.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-West Germanic *pīk ‘sharp point, pike’

pickaxe

through Old English pīc ‘pointed object, pick axe’

peak, pitch

through Middle English pyke

pickerel

Today it means

noun A very long spear used two-handed by infantry soldiers for thrusting (not throwing), both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a countermeasure against cavalry assaults.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “pike”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *pīkaz / pike

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