pika

P3I1K5A1
/ˈpiːkə/US/ˈpaɪkə/

noun

Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and Asia.

Similar
mouse harerock rabbitconeycony
UncommonScrabble 10
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounpika (plural pikas)

plural pikas · alternative archaic pica

  1. Any of several small, furry mammals, similar to guinea pigs, but related to rabbits, of the genus Ochotona, from the mountains of North America and Asia.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounsmall short-eared burrowing mammal of rocky uplands of Asia and western North America

Similar
mouse harerock rabbitconeycony
Broader
lagomorphgnawing mammal
Also see
coneyconyrock rabbit

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From French, from an Evenki word which Peter Simon Pallas transcribes as piika or peeka, but which cannot be found in modern dictionaries. Probably ultimately onomatopoeic. Compare typologically German Pfeifhase (< pfeifen (+ Hase) << Latin pīpō), Czech pišťucha, Russian пищу́ха (piščúxa) (akin to пища́ть (piščátʹ), писк (pisk)).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian безопашат заек
  • безопашат заек (bezopašat zaek)furry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Catalan pica
  • picafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Chinese Mandarin 鼠兔
  • 鼠兔 (shǔtù)furry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Czech pišťucha
  • pišťuchafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Dutch fluithaas
  • fluithaasfurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Finnish pika
  • pikafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
French pika, lièvre criard
  • pikafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
  • lièvre criardfurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
  • lièvre siffleurfurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
  • ochotonefurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
German Pfeifhase
  • Pfeifhasefurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Irish pioca
  • piocafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Italian ocotona
  • ocotonafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Korean 우는토끼
  • 우는토끼 (uneuntokki)furry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Persian خرگوشموش
  • خرگوشموشfurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Polish szczekuszka
  • szczekuszkafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Russian пищу́ха
  • пищу́ха (piščúxa)furry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Scottish Gaelic paice
  • paicefurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Swedish piphare
  • pipharefurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Vietnamese thỏ cộc
  • thỏ cộcfurry mammal of the genus Ochotona
Welsh pica
  • picafurry mammal of the genus Ochotona

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with pika

Micahmicapicabalalaika
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

pica

Anagrams

pakipaikkiap
Cite this entry
APA

pika. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pika

MLA

“pika.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pika. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pika,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pika.

Source: pika on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.