Etymology

pickaxe

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Today it means: A heavy iron tool with a wooden handle; one end of the head is pointed, the other has a chisel edge. Full definition →

Middle English pykeaxe ← Anglo-Norman *pikeis ← Old French picois
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*pīk“sharp point, pike”
  2. Latin · derived frompicōsa“pickaxe”
  3. Old French · derived frompicois
  4. Anglo-Norman · derived from*pikeis
  5. Middle English · inherited frompykeaxe
  6. English todaypickaxe

Inherited from Middle English pykeaxe, pecaxe, pyke exe (“pickaxe”), an alteration (due to folk etymology association with pick and axe) of Middle English pikeyse, pikeys, pykois, from Anglo-Norman *pikeis, Old French picois, pecois, from Latin picōsa (“pickaxe”), from picca, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pīk (“sharp point, pike”). Doublet of pique and pike.

Words from the same roots

Proto-West Germanic*pīk all →

peakpitch

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.