Etymology

piceous

pi·ce·ous
P3I1C3E1O1U1S1

Today it means: Of or pertaining to pitch (“a sticky, dark brown substance obtained from distilling turpentine or wood tar, or crude oil or tar”); having a quality like pitch. Full definition →

Latin piceus ← Proto-Indo-European *peyH-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*peyH-“fat; milk”
  2. Latin · derived frompiceus“like pitch; pitch-black”
  3. English todaypiceous

From Latin piceus (“like pitch; pitch-black”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives denoting possession or presence of a quality). Piceus is derived from pix (“pitch, tar”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *peyH- (“fat; milk”)) + -eus (suffix forming adjectives indicating the sources of attributes). The English word is cognate with Italian piceo (“like pitch; of a dark brown colour”), Spanish piceo (“like pitch; of a dark brown colour”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.